For our final project, we decided to model in Mathematica a 3-dimensional rowing single on the water with separate port and starboard oars. We are both on Bryn Mawr’s Varsity Crew Team so we wanted to do a rowing related project involving math topics we learned in class this semester. We spent a lot of time deciding which elements of the sport we wanted to graph and model but when we had our final idea we quickly mapped out the key elements to our project. Using a combination of class notes and labs as well as some outside Mathematica research, we had fun working on this project because it is based on a real life activity that we share outside of class.
The body of the boat is made up of a cylinder between two cones, and the entire body is slightly translucent so as to be able to view through it to the seat. The seat of the boat is represented by a black hemisphere, which is completely opaque. The boat is on top of a blue Sin graph representing the water. We separated the boat from the oars so as to be able to better view all of the components. The oars are made up of many small parts, including seven cylinders. Our greatest difficulties were scaling all of the components of our model to fit well with each other, and orienting them so that they lined up correctly. We primarily worked with parametric equations and callbacks to earlier trigonometric functions. Ultimately, we had a lot of fun putting together the different parts, and seeing how Multivariable Calculus translates into the real world.
