Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Cheetahs and physics

A captive, young male cheetah covers 100 meters in 7.19 seconds in a timed run.
From: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130612-cheetah-speed-hunting-big-cats-animal-science/
This Science News article  and National Geographic article (with an interesting video of cheetahs) covers research done by putting collars with GPS on several wild cheetahs as they engaged in hunts. They were able to measure the top speed, acceleration (and deceleration) as well as their movements as they hunted their prey. They were able to decelerate from 36 mph to 9 mph in three strides so they can change direction easily. The scientists first tested their system on dogs on a beach so they could compare their GPS with the locations of the paw prints left in the sand


Read the articles and comment on the physics of hunting and the predator/prey relationship.

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