What is the average surface area of a snowboard, cm squared?

Question

This is a question on my science homework, and i need to work out the surface area of a board, cm sqaured.

Becuase then i can work out the pressure applied.

Please help...

Answer 1

If you are calculating the pressure applied to the snow, the snowboard length doesn't matter because the tip and the tail don't even touch the snow. The center part of the board that actually touches the snow is about the same as the "Effective Edge" spec given for snowboards.

Also, the edge of a snowboard is not straight so this will only be a rough estimate.

My Ride Control 158cm snowboard  has an Effective Edge of 125cm, a waist measurement of 25cm and a tip/tail of 29cm.

http://ridesnowboards.com/boards/board.a...

The average width from tip to tail would be (25cm + 29cm) / 2 = 27cm, so the rough area of the board in contact with the snow would be (27cm)(125cm) = 3375cm squared.

Good Luck

Answer 2

wow... ok let's see if we can figure this out without nuking it with a bunch of c**p about how there are so many different boards for different types of riding. We'll go with an all mountain board because it's kinda the jack of all trades.

On average a board is about between 150 and 160 cm long, 158 is a pretty decent average size for a board. The tricky part comes in the widths. there are 3 measurements on width. the width of the nose, the width of the waist and the width of th tail. the nose and tail measurements are gonna be somewhere around 29cm or so (because it's easier and might get you brownie points, tell your teacher it's a "True Twin-Tip" which means the nose and tail are the same width), the waist of the board will be about 25cm.

have fun with the math that's where I always checked out and started doodling on my desk.

*ADDED NOTE - HOLY c**p! TahoeT is now  my friggin hero! d**n! *applause*

Answer 3

There are all sorts of boards out there...unless they gave no other measurements, that's one of the vaguest questions I have ever read.  A board can be directional in which case, the widest point on the nose and tail would be different; a twin which both the nose and the tail would be the same width, and then there are also swallowtail boards which complicate things even more.  They never stated how long the board was, or the width of it's waist or any other measurements.

Overall, a general measurement I would give is 155cm lengthwise by 24.5cm. at the waist.  If it's talking about a twin, I'd say maybe about 29cm on the nose and tail.

As you can see, there's a lot of factors involved in this, and since there are no measurements given to you, it's nearly impssible to have a uniform answer.

Answer 4

Still looking for dimensions, but this site may get you some extra credit if you can use the info:

http://ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu/211_fall2002...

Got them...good old wikipedia...

Snowboard designs differ primarily in:

Length - Boards for children are as short as 90 centimetres; boards for racers, or "alpine" riders, are as long as 215 cm. Most people ride boards in the 140-165 cm range. It is a myth that the height of the rider solely dictates the length of the snowboard. Rather, the length of a snowboard corresponds mainly to the style, weight, and preference of the rider. A good rule of thumb is to stay within the recommended manufacturer weight range. The longer the board, the more stable it is at high speed, but it is also a bit tougher to maneuver. Another factor riders consider when selecting a snowboard is the type of riding it will be used for, freestyle boards being shorter than all-mountain boards.

Width - The width is typically measured at the waist of the board, since the nose and tail width varies with the sidecut and taper. Freestyle boards are up to 28 cm wide, to assist with balance. Alpine boards are typically 18-21 cm wide, although they can be as narrow as 15 cm. Most folks ride boards in the 24-25 cm range. Riders with larger feet (US size 10+) may have problems with narrower boards, as they have substantially less surface area along the edges. As a result, a rider's toes and/or heels may extend over the edge of the board, and interfere with the board's ability to make turns once it is set on edge, or 'get hung up on the snow.' This is called toe/heel-drag, and can be cured by either choosing a wider board (26cm or more), adjusting the stance angle, or a combination of the two.

Sidecut - The edges of the board are symmetrically curved concavely, so that the width at the tip and tail is greater than the center. This curve aids turning and affects the board's handling. The curve has a radius that might be a short as 5 meters on a child's board or as large as 17 meters on a racer's board. Most boards use a sidecut radius between 8-9 meters. Shorter sidecut radii (tighter turns) are generally used for halfpipe riding while longer sidecut radii (wider turns) are used for freeride/alpine/racing riding. One new development in sidecuts was the introduction of Magne-Traction by Mervin, which owns: Lib Tech, GNU, and Roxy. Magne-Traction incorporates seven bumps on each side of the board which LibTech speculates will improve edge holding.

Flex - The flexibility of a snowboard affects its handling and typically varies with the rider's weight. Usually a harder flex makes turning harder while a softer flex makes the board less stable at high speed. There is no standard way to quantify snowboard stiffness, but novices and boarders who mostly do rails tend to prefer softer flex, racers stiffer flex, and everyone else something in between.

Tail/nose width - Many freestyle boards have equal nose/tail specs for equal performance either direction. Freeride and alpine boards, however, have a directional shape with a wider and longer nose. Boards designed for powder conditions exaggerate the differences even more for more flotation on the powder.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowboard