
Swimming Caps and 100-Meter Speed
Hard
Can a swimming cap shave seconds off your race time? Caps reduce drag by covering your hair. But does that small change actually affect speed over 100 meters?
You time 20 swimmers as they complete a 100-meter dash. Each swimmer races twice: once without a cap and once wearing one. A two-hour rest separates the two swims. Ten assistants each track one male and one female swimmer with stopwatches.
Comparing the cap and no-cap times shows whether the cap makes a measurable difference in speed.
Hypothesis
The hypothesis is that using the swimming cap will help to increase the speed of the swimmer and he will be able to swim the 100m dash in a shorter time.
Method & Materials
You will need 20 swimmers, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, 20 swimming caps, 10 stopwatches, and 10 assistants. The swimmers will swim with and without a cap and the time it takes to swim 100m will be measured.
You will need 20 swimmers, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, 20 swimming caps, 10 stopwatches, and 10 assistants.
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See what’s includedResults
The results showed that the swimmers swam more quickly when they wore swim caps. This experiment shows that wearing a swimming cap can help to reduce drag and improve a swimmer's performance.
Why do this project?
This science project is interesting because it shows how a simple item like a swimming cap can have a big impact on a swimmer's performance.
Also Consider
Experiment variations could include having the participants wear swimsuits made of different materials, or having them shave the hair on their bodies and observe the difference in results.
Full project details
Additional information and source material for this project are available below.Related videos
These videos explain the science behind this project and demonstrate key concepts used in the experiment.
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