Riley CrandallMay 16, 2014Dr. StokesPreventing Concussions in Football: A Newtonian PerspectiveRecently, the topic of concussions and concussion prevention has attracted a great deal of attention among athletes of all ages. Football, in particular, has received much attention due to the high rate of concussions among its participants. Although efforts such as rule changes have been made to make football safer, these injuries still occur at a higher rate than many consider acceptable. What can be done to prevent these injuries from continuing? Can football be made safer while retaining the high speed nature of the sport? The answer lies in the field of physics. Newton's three laws of motion state that: 1. An object's state of motion tends to remain constant unless an external force is applied. 2. The force applied to the object is equal to the mass of the object times its acceleration, and the force and acceleration vectors are in the same direction. 3. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Considering these laws in the analysis of a violent collision in football, we make some observations. First, we observe that for a concussion to occur, a rapid change in skull motion must also occur within a short period of time. time. This results in the brain (which tends to remain in a state of constant motion) colliding with the interior of the skull when the skull begins to change states of motion. This causes a compressive force on the brain, leading to brain damage. Second, the force providing the change in motion is primarily the result of a rapid change in the acceleration of the objects involved (assuming that the individual masses of the players remain constant). a...... middle of paper ......y will happen (Demarest). By increasing the amount of padding in a helmet, the collision time is further increased, thereby decreasing the force of an equivalent impulse transfer. The principle described is that of elasticity. If a collision is very elastic, more kinetic energy is retained, resulting in greater acceleration or deceleration of the objects involved. In the context of football helmets, inelastic collisions mean lower accelerations and less brain damage. Given the requirements stated previously, it would seem that the most effective way to prevent concussions in football while maintaining the high-speed nature of the sport would be to make better helmets that increase collision time. This can be achieved by adding more padding or introducing more inelastic materials into football helmets and pads..