Intuition might tell us that rough surfaces on clothing would inhibit the speed of an Olympic athlete. Why is this line of thinking not true in some cases? How can controlled roughness actually promote speed?

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Physics

Cannon Keller

8 January, 20:37

Intuition might tell us that rough surfaces on clothing would inhibit the speed of an Olympic athlete. Why is this line of thinking not true in some cases? How can controlled roughness actually promote speed?

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Theodore Weeks · Answer 1

The thinking that rough surfaces on clothing would inhibit the speed of an Olympic athlete may not be entirely be true in most cases because the drag that a person experiences is the effect of the air that he goes against and might not be affected by the clothing.

The controlled roughness may promote speed as this would allow the person for the proper ventilation allowing his system to work well by allowing air to enter.