# does a heavier rider travel faster?



## jegnorge (Feb 15, 2010)

so i was thinking, does a 180lb rider gain speed faster than a 140lb rider on the same hill? common sense would say yes but at the same time for the heavier rider there's more traction between the board and the snow. more traction = slower.

what do you think?


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## snowvols (Apr 16, 2008)

Heavier rider will go faster. The fricton coefficient is increased which will slow him/her down on flats or slight uphills.


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## Puggy (Oct 7, 2010)

I think the effects of weight on the board would have little effect on the total speed. However you need to consider wind resistance and such... I'd say from the little physics experience that I've had that it would not matter. Since due to gravity all things, no matter what the weight is fall at the same rate. It's the law of gravity that all objects will accelerate at the same rate, to a terminal velocity unless there is an opposing force slowing it down. ie drag... Makes sense to me form what I remember anyways...


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

depends on board size, base material, wax and most importantly rider's skill...but if dropping the heavier rider will reach terminal velocity faster, make a bigger mess on impact and bigger body crater due to larger mass...idk the equation mass x speed...= something.


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## jegnorge (Feb 15, 2010)

assuming both heavier and lighter riders ride the same board, same setup, and etc...


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## Shocktroop531 (Aug 3, 2010)

I'm gonna go with Isaac Newton here and say no. Same theory as the one where you drop a marble and a bowling ball off a ledge they will fall at the same rate of speed.


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## snowvols (Apr 16, 2008)

The mass is different of the larger rider. That is where the other rider will pick up more speed than the smaller person. Think of two balls rolling down the hill not in free fall mode but rolling down the hill. The larger ball, one with more mass, will get to the end first. This is if they are of the same material and all coefficients are the same except mass.


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## jegnorge (Feb 15, 2010)

how come newton's law doesn't apply in this case?


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## baldylox (Dec 27, 2007)

SpringerLink - Abstract


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## Cavman (Mar 1, 2010)

I am 6ft 5in, 220lbs. I can't do pipe or park, but damn good luck to you if you can catch me when I bomb down a run.  People always ask me how come you can go so fast.

Mass in motion on a downward slope is only slowed by parasitic drag and (Coefficient of Firction) CoF. CoF is pretty much equal for all riders unless you have a crappy unwaxed base and my 220lbs versus is guy who is 140lbs. I eman we are taling minor minor differences in CoF. Trust me on that one, I spent years testing car tyre CoF and from top model tyres to crap ones, there is little real different in dynamic (sliding) grip. Don't get that confused with rolling traction, that is where the expensive tyres outperform your crappy ones.

The other guy has to make his body size 30% less to reduce drag and all I do is squat a little and I am back in front on rhe basis of my weight (mass) to size ratio.

Same applies to the flats and heading back up hill. You are now a mass in motion (Momentum). Try stopping a plastic beach ball travelling at 40km/hr and it is easy, try catching a bowling ball doing 40km/hr and it will knock you down. Don;t get in front of me at 40km.hr and try to stop my weight. It is not the speed, it is the momentum. A heavier rider travelling at the same speed as a lighter one has more momentum and will subsequently continue in motion for longer until the culmulative effect of drag/friction finally stops the rider. It will take more drag/friction for a heavier rider and as the drag/friction are constant, it is then a simple formulae of culmulative TIME to reach the required force to act upon the mass in motion. Newtons first law.

If you want to discuss why all cars regardless of weight, all 'skid" to a stop in the same distance??? That is because the extra mass of the heavier car applies greater downward pressure on the tyres and that increases the CoF. Race cars have tail fins to increase downward pressure and increased CoF but without increasing MASS, therefore better braking performance.


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## Donutz (May 12, 2010)

jegnorge said:


> how come newton's law doesn't apply in this case?


That only applies in free fall. As soon as friction gets in the picture, everything goes to hell. Two surfaces in contact can only provide so much resistance. Pile on enough mass and the resistance is overwhelmed. In extreme cases, a lighter weight will just sit there, while a heavier weight will get the rig moving.


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## snowvols (Apr 16, 2008)

Cavman said:


> I am 6ft 5in, 220lbs. I can't do pipe or park, but damn good luck to you if you can catch me when I bomb down a run.  People always ask me how come you can go so fast.
> 
> Mass in motion on a downward slope is only slowed by parasitic drag and (Coefficient of Firction) CoF. CoF is pretty much equal for all riders unless you have a crappy unwaxed base and my 220lbs versus is guy who is 140lbs. I eman we are taling minor minor differences in CoF. Trust me on that one, I spent years testing car tyre CoF and from top model tyres to crap ones, there is little real different in dynamic (sliding) grip. Don't get that confused with rolling traction, that is where the expensive tyres outperform your crappy ones.
> 
> ...


This is what I was going for but didn't feel like putting the effort to type all of this in. :cheeky4: Go overall analysis though.


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## Toecutter (Oct 11, 2009)

jegnorge said:


> how come newton's law doesn't apply in this case?


Okay, I'm reaching wayyy back to college physics here, so take that into account...

Classic physics scenarios involve either a frictionless plane or a vacuum and doesn't take into consideration air resistance.

In real life the more massive fried chicken-eating snowboarder overcomes wind resistance better and can "punch through" the air more.


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## Argo (Feb 25, 2010)

cavman is right. I can pass up my family with one slight turn down hill to pick up a shitload of speed. Im 280 lbs. I can haul ass and get to that speed quick. try stopping on a dime though, not going to happen. My niece is about 100 lbs, she can get up to speed and go as fast as I do but typically it takes her a little longer to get up to speed. She stops from 40mph to 0 in about 10 yards or less. it takes me about 20 yards in average snow conditions. of course on ice I keep sliding and in powder I stop alot quicker.....


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## Toecutter (Oct 11, 2009)

Snowolf said:


> Ever seen a semi burn up their brakes and have to use the runaway ramp?.....nuff said...


I've seen a couple of big rigs mired on that very ramp back when I was growing up in CO.


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## Cavman (Mar 1, 2010)

Snowolf, so true. You lock your wheels in any vehicle and Sir Isaac Newton is now driving. hahaha


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## JeffreyCH (Nov 21, 2009)

Good thread, I've always wondered about this. I weigh 230 and it feels like I accelerate much faster then my brother that weighs 160. I never could tell for sure since I just point down the hill and go, while my brother is a bit more timid.


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## hwa (Dec 2, 2008)

Toecutter said:


> I've seen a couple of big rigs mired on that very ramp back when I was growing up in CO.


I thought that ramp looked familiar...


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