How friction is important in the sport of curling. Lesson 10 L.O: To present/publish their work using a suitable layout. How friction is important in the sport of curling. By Ffion

In 2002, the British women’s curling team won an Olympic gold medal at Salt Lake City, USA. Curling is an Olympic sport and has been played since the 16th century. It became an official Olympic winter sport in 2002. Anyone can play this sport for fitness. This sport started in Scotland. You have to throw rocks down ice and aim for a target. The stone curls down the ice as it travels, that’s how the game got its name.

Pebbles of frozen water First, they sprinkle water onto the ice to make little bumps. As a result of making hills and valleys, the stone floats over them with less friction. This activity is activity is called pebbling.

Running Ring The stone is made out of granite; it has a running edge. The bottom of the ring of the stone touches the hills and valleys and glides across them, so less contact with the ice.

Stabiliser Stone is pulled back When the player is ready to throw, they use a stabiliser. As a result, the player keeps their balance. They pull the stone back before releasing it to get momentum.

Stone is pushed As a direct result of pushing the stone, the stone creates more momentum, therefore it travels further.

After that, they twist and release the stone at the same time; the stone curls clockwise or anticlockwise. This causes it to turn (curl) left or right and hopefully land on the target.

Brush Finally, other players brush the ice to heat it up so there is less friction for the stone to travel faster.

As you would have read, friction is very important in this sport including forces like pushing, pulling, momentum and balance. Who knew there was so much science to this sport?