Athletes in recent years have realised the potential of using new technology to boost performance and many are willing to try anything legal that will give them even a small advantage over their competitor. In many race competitions, athletes in the past have often focussed exclusively on muscle power. But every racing competition involves moving through the air, whether it is their own bodies, a bobsleigh or a cycle. For decades, those involved in the sport of motor racing and in particular Formula One have realised that the shape of the car has a significant impact on race performance. The science of aerodynamics is often conducted in a wind tunnel and in recent years sports athletes have spent hours in the wind tunnel trying to understand how best to race through the air.

The science of aerodynamics

Objects moving through the air or alternatively the wind moving around a stationary object feel an aerodynamic force caused by the air particles pushing against the object. If the object is shaped in such as a way that it channels the air around it smoothly, the drag force experienced will be reduced. Aircraft are shaped to be as streamlined as possible to enable them to travel long distances whilst burning as little fuel as possible. On the other hand, parachutes are designed to be as less streamlined as possible so that the aerodynamic drag force is as large as possible and thereby the speed at which a parachutist falls to Earth is as slow as possible.

Measuring aerodynamic drag in a wind tunnel

The aerodynamic drag force can be measured in a controlled environment in a wind tunnel. A typical wind tunnel is simply a small cabin with air blown through it by a fan. Objects placed in the cabin can then be attached to an instrument such as a mechanical force balance to measure the aerodynamic force that the object is withstanding. Experimenting with several different geometries of the same object identifies shapes which generate the least drag.

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