The Speed of Sound Is Too Slow for Olympic Athletes – Rebecca J. Rosen – The Atlantic
I was actually pondering this as we’ve watched the track and field events. The distance from a gun to the farthest lanes must have a measurable effect on start time. And even if it’s just 1000th of a second, races have been won and lost by that amound.
What’s got me wondering more, though, is just what the waveform of that starter tone looks like. It’s got to have a quick transient to it. I’d like to get ahold of it.
In my high school track meets, the starting gun for the 200m was across the track from the starting line (because the guy firing the gun was also doing the finish), so some of the runners would try to look over their shoulder to watch for the poof of smoke from the gun instead of waiting for the sound to travel all the way across. Not sure if the awkward position of looking over your shoulder while starting was a gain or a loss though.
Comment by greg — August 7, 2012 @ 10:57 am