PURPOSE
The purpose of this experiment was to determine if air pressure in a football helmet’s padding affects the force of impact.
I became interested in this idea after the football team I played on had won our championship game. I wondered if playing football that season had made any effect on my brain, good or bad.
The information gained from this experiment could possibly be helpful for football players and coaches in all different leagues, letting them know the effect their helmet has on possible brain injury.
HYPOTHESIS
My first hypothesis was
that the impact force would decrease as air pressure inside the padding
increased from 0 mm Hg (totally empty) up to 200 mm Hg (maximum tested).
My second hypothesis was that the impact force would increase as air pressure inside the padding increased above 75 mm Hg.
I based my hypothesis on the answer my football coach gave to the question, “Is the air pressure in the padding for comfort or for fit?” My coach answered, “It is for both. It depends on what the player wants. Some people like it as pumped up as they can get it, other like it as empty as possible.”
EXPERIMENT DESIGN
The constants in this study were: the helmet being tested, size of mannequin head, way tested, force/speed of helmet at impact, the temperature at which the experiment was conducted, the measure being used, accelerometer probe being used, and the software that read the probe.
The manipulated variable was the pressure in the football helmet.
The responding variable was “g” force or force of impact.
To measure the responding variable I used a Vernier Accelerometer probe attached to a computer running Logger Pro 3.0 software, which reads “g” force of the impact/ collision
MATERIALS
QUANTITY
|
ITEM
DESCRIPTION
|
1
|
Vernier accelerometer
probe
|
1
|
computer running Logger
Pro 3.0 software
|
2
|
football helmet
|
1
|
hand pump (off of a blood
pressure cuff)
|
1
|
pulley
|
1
|
Mannequin head
|
25
|
Feet of 1/8inch rope
|
1
|
roll of masking tape
|
PROCEDURES
1. Tie a rope securely to
the base of the pulley.
2. Pass the rope over a strong support 3 meters above floor. Pull the rope so the pulley is positioned securely about 3 meters above the floor.
3. Take a helmet and tie it to a second rope.
4. Run this rope though the pulley so the weight can be raised and lowered easily.
5. Attach the Vernier accelerometer probe to the computer with Logger Pro software.
6. Place the Vernier accelerometer probe inside the mannequin head shape by drilling a hole in the top of it and stuffing the probe inside of the hole.
7. Using bulb pump from a sphygmomanometer attached to a sports ball needle, add air to the internal protective pad in the football helmet. The pressure should read 0 mm Hg.
8. Put the mannequin head shape into the helmet in an upright position on a flat surface that the masking tape can fasten the mannequin head into a position where it is not tilted or uneven when it is placed on the flat surface.
9. Be sure it is positioned exactly under the other helmet.
10. Check helmet for correct fit.
11. Hold the rope so the helmet is in a fixed position, suspended 2.0 meters in the air directly above the helmet with the mannequin head. The empty helmet must not be swinging.
12. Release the rope so the weight will hit the helmet and mannequin head.
13. Record what the Vernier accelerometer probe reads in “meters per second squared” for that individual helmet brand at the moment of impact.
14. Repeat steps 10-13 for a total of 10 trials.
15. Repeat steps 8-14 for each pad pressure.
RESULTS
The original purpose of this experiment was to determine if air pressure in a football helmet’s padding affects the force of impact.
The results of the experiment showed that the impact impulse raised as the air pressure inside the helmet increased. The maximum impact was similar on average for all pressure levels.
CONCLUSION
My first hypothesis was that the impact force would decrease as air pressure inside the padding increased from 0 mm Hg (totally empty) up to 200 mm Hg (maximum tested).
My
second hypothesis was that the impact force would increase as air pressure
inside the padding increased above 75 mm Hg.
The
results indicate that my first hypothesis should be rejected.
The results indicate that my second hypothesis should be accepted.
Because
of the results of this experiment, I wonder if not having the padding in the
helmet helps with the impact force.
If I
were to conduct this project again I would b sure to do so in a more controlled
manor. I also would find a something different do set the probe into instead of
using a Styrofoam mannequin head. I believe that the Styrofoam head had a bad
affect on the results of this experiment.
Researched by -- Camdon A.
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