• Question: What science is at work when Usain Bolt runs 100m in under 10 seconds?

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      Asked by jgb404 to Kate, Kieren, Nicola, Rowena, Roy on 14 Mar 2014.
      • Photo: Rowena Fletcher-Wood

        Rowena Fletcher-Wood answered on 14 Mar 2014:

        Well all kinds of science! First biology designing these skills in – speed, endurance – evolving to get good. Also chemistry. When you run you can’t respire aerobically so well and build up lactic acid that makes it hurt. You can delay the build up by getting more oxygen into your body and get rid of the lactic acid at the end by breathing heavily. There is also the physics and mechanics of motion and balance, shape and air resistance, so MUCH.

      • Photo: Kate Nicholson

        Kate Nicholson answered on 14 Mar 2014:

        Biology, physics, chemistry and something that makes him that little bit special 🙂 The biology of the human body is fascinating, especially when it is pushed to the limit of skill and endurance that athletes strive towards. The physics of motion, how he moves, how his brain can calculate each movement so precisely is more than our smartest robots can achieve. the chemistry of balancing everything in his body so well through diet so that he has all the energy to perform is also important, but the sheer strength of will that drives him to do it in the first place – if we could bottle that, then we would have something amazing.

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