The science behind splashless dives

Competitive divers get a higher score when they enter the water with minimal splash. Now scientists at George Washington University in Washington, DC, are studying splashless dives to understand the physics (science of energy and matter) behind them. The researchers created hinged models that bend in the middle, similar to a diver bending at the waist. The models were dropped into water, where high-speed cameras captured their movement and the water around them. The model created what divers call a rip entry, which has almost no splash and sounds like a piece of paper being ripped in half. It’s considered an ideal dive. Experts used to think a rip entry pulled the splash into the water. But the study found that the entry angle created an air-filled cavity, or pocket,…

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The Week Junior US (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 144

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