Diving off a springboard

A springboard or diving board is used for diving and is a board that is itself a spring, i. Diving off a deck into the Great South Bay of Long Islandjpg|thumb|A man dives into the Great South Bay of Long Island. A spring is a flexible elastic object used to store mechanical Energy. e. a linear flex-spring, of the cantilever type. A cantilever is a beam supported on only one end The beam carries the load to the support where it is resisted by moment and Shear stress.

Springboards are commonly fixed by a hinge at one end (so they can be flipped up when not in use), and the other end usually hangs over a swimming pool, with a point midway between the hinge and the end resting on an adjustable fulcrum. A hinge is a type of bearing that connects two solid objects typically allowing only a limited angle of Rotation between them A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is an artificially enclosed Body of water intended for Swimming or

Springboard materials

Because of the need to be light and flexible, springboards are usually made of fiberglass. Fiberglass (also called fibreglass and glass fibre see Spelling differences) is material made from extremely fine Fibers of Glass. Most springboards are painted, usually blue, and texture is often added to the surface by mixing crushed glass or sand with the paint to provide additional grip.

Adjustment of the spring constant

Adjusting Fulcrum with foot prior to a dive

The spring constant of a springboard is usually adjusted by way of a fulcrum that is located approximately mid way along the springboard. Springboards are usually operated in a linear regime where they approximately obey Hooke's law. In Mechanics, and Physics, Hooke's law of elasticity is an approximation that states that the amount by which a material body is deformed (the When loaded with a bather, the combination of the bather's approximately constant mass, and the constant stiffness of the spring(board) result in a resonance frequency that is adjustable by way of the spring constant (set by the fulcrum position). Mass is a fundamental concept in Physics, roughly corresponding to the Intuitive idea of how much Matter there is in an object Stiffness is the resistance of an elastic body to Deformation by an applied Force. In Physics, resonance is the tendency of a system to Oscillate at maximum Amplitude at certain frequencies, known as the system's Since the resulting system is in an approximately linear regime, it may be modeled fairly accurately by a second order differential equation. A differential equation is a mathematical Equation for an unknown function of one or several variables that relates the values of the Typically the resonance frequency can be adjusted over a range of a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio. A ratio is an expression which compares quantities relative to each other

Counter-intuitive user-interface

The fulcrum usually travels over a range of approximately 0. 75 metre (30 inches), and is set by way of a knob that is approximately 0. The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International Inches redirects here To see the Les Savy Fav album see Inches. 35 m (14 inches) in diameter. Geometry, a diameter of a Circle is any straight Line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose Endpoints are on the To stiffen the spring (as if tightening it), the knob is usually turned counter clockwise. This is counter intuitive, since usually things are tightened by turning clockwise. Additionally, if standing on the springboard, it is difficult to push the wheel with the foot, because the top of it needs to turn the other way from the way it moves. This is because the gearlike mechanism (usually a "soft gear" made of rubber) is on the board and not the base, so the wheel pivots against the board when rotated. This is the page for mechanical Gears For other uses see Gear (disambiguation For the gear-like device used to drive a roller chain see Sprocket Thus users often need to bend down and set the wheel, or come down from the board to set the wheel. Thus it would be much better if the gearing were on the base so that the wheel could be pushed with the foot, but tradition (consistency from board to board) dictactes maintaining a "backwards" convention.

• Note - Standing behind or in front of the knob, rather than directly above it, will give you better leverage to move the fulcrum. This is accomplished by holding on to the hand rails and leaning the body a few degrees, then placing your foot as low as possible on the knob. In this way, it is possible to move even the most difficult fulcrum.

Heights of springboards

Three and One Metre Springboards

Springboards are usually located either 1. 0 metre or 3. 0 metres above the water surface. It is very seldom that one is mounted at a height other than these two standard heights. In olympic competition, only the springboards of height 3. 0 metres are used.

Historical heights of springboards

Some years ago, springboards, usually made of wood, were located at heights of either 10 feet (approximately 3m), or 20 feet (approx. 6m), above the water.