Sports equipments rely heavily on chemistry it is a mixture of metals, ceramics, polymers like Polycarbonate, Polyurethanes, Cyanoacrylate, Polyisoprene, Trans-1,4 polyisoprene

1. Chemistry of sports Equipments
Article written and published
By
wwww.Worldofchemicals.com

2. Introduction
 Sports and physical activities have been part of the natural
endeavors of humans in earth.The primeval records of sports
activities date back to the First Olympics Games in 776 B.C. in
Greece. Since then, the human yearning for participating in
sports activities and this activity has pushed civilizations to
create more structure to more sports games.
 Worldwide events such as the Olympic Games and theWorld
Cup are manifestations of the global participation of humans in
sports activities. Large countries and small countries around
the world compete against each other for recognition for
physical talent and achievement in sports.The competitiveness
in sports pushes the individual athletes as well as teams of
athletes to constantly enhance their performance in their
activity or game.

3. Introduction Cont
 Over the past 100 years the materials used in sports equipment
have evolved from raw materials such as wood, twine, gut, and
rubber to high-technology metals, polymers, ceramics, and synthetic
hybrid materials like composites and cellular concepts.
 The design of sports equipment must rely on the knowledge of
materials science, engineering, physics, physiology, and biomechanics
and must consider various possible characteristics
 1Q.] what is the importance of material selection in sports
equipment?
 2Q.] what are the characteristics of materials to be
considered while designing them?
 3Q.] what are the other aspects important in designing
sports equipments?

4. 1Q.] what is the importance of material
selection in sports equipment?

5. 2A] Characteristics of materials to be
considered are
 Strength
 Density
 Ductility
 Fatigue resistance
 Toughness
 Modulus (damping)
 Cost

 Materials which are used in design of sports equipments are

 Metals
 Ceramics
 Polymers etc.

6. 3A] various aspects to be considered while
designing materials are
 Material science
 Mechanical engineering
 Physics
 Anatomy
 Physiology
 Biomechanics

 Many types of sports equipment rely heavily on chemistry to
help athletes reach peak performance and provide critical
safety and protective functions along the way.Whether it’s a
stadium infrastructure materials tennis ball or baseball bat,
elite athletes from around the world depend on the products
of chemistry.

7. Stadium
 Stadium is a place or venue for sports, concerts, or other
events and consists of a field or stage either partly or
completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow
spectators to stand or sit and view the event.
 There is chemistry or chemicals involved in stadium
infrastructure. Following are the few chemicals used in
stadium equipments, chairs, roofs, turfs.
 Polyolefins – These are used in modern day stadium turfs
 Polycarbonate – These materials are using for stadium
roofing purpose
 PVC – All most all parts of the stadiums are made up
PVC material

8. Stadium Cont ..
 Polyurethanes
 Polyurethanes, a kind of plastic, will play an important role
this summer as they are frequently found in running and
other athletic shoes, making them more resilient. In
addition, polyurethane is found in a wide variety of
popular sporting equipment, such as soccer balls, binders
on running tracks and judo mats.A number of styles of
sport flooring and pour-in-place track surfaces use
polyurethanes, as well.These equipment necessities
alongside such items as surfboard, roller blades, bowling
balls and spandex apparel are all made possible in part
due to polyurethane innovations

9. Stadium Cont ..
 Polycarbonate
 Polycarbonate, a strong, shatter-resistant plastic, can also
be found in protective sports equipment. Polycarbonate is
often used in riding and biking helmets, helping protect
riders competing in equestrian and cycling competitions.
Polycarbonate sunglasses and protective visors, which
provide optical clarity as well as shatter-resistance, are
worn by runners and rowers, just to name a few.
Polycarbonate lenses can also be found in swim goggles.

10. Archery
 Archery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows
with the use of a bow.
 Archery equipment include

 Bows
 Arrows
 Fletchings
 Bow string
 Protective equipment
 Release aids
 Stabilizers

11. Archery Cont ..
 Cyanoacrylate
 Cyanoacrylate is the generic name for a family of fast-
acting adhesives with industrial, medical and household
uses.Cyanoacrylate is used in archery to glue fletching to
arrow shafts.


12. Badminton
 Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players (singles) or two
opposing pairs (doubles), who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular
court that is divided by a net.
 It was not until the 1940s that acrylic courts were used in official tournaments.
Now, the Australian Open and US Open are both played on acrylic courts.
 Badminton equipment include
 Racquets
 Strings
 Grip
 Shuttlecock
 Shoes
 Strings
 Synthetic strings are mainly composed of
 Nylon
 Polyester
 Kevlar

13. Badminton
 Vectran
 Vectran is a manufactured fiber, spun from a liquid crystal
polymer (LCP). It is aromatic polyester produced by the
polycondensation of 4-hydroxybenzoic acid and 6-
hydroxynaphthalene-2-carboxylic acid.Vectran fiber is
used in manufacturing badminton strings such asYonex
BG-85 and BG-80.

14. Racquets

15. Racquets Cont ..
 In manufacturing of racquets the following chemicals are
used

 Graphite
 Aluminum
 Boron
 Nylon

16. Golf
 Golf is defined as playing a ball with a club from the teeing ground into the hole by
a stroke or successive strokes in accordance with the Rules. It is one of the few ball
games that do not require a standardized playing area.
 Golf equipment include
 Ball
 Clubs (Woods, Irons, Putters)
 Ball markers
 Tees
 Golf bag
 Golf cart
 Towels
 Club head covers
 Ball mark repair tool
 Gloves
 Shoes

17. Clubs (Woods, Irons, Putters)
 Golf clubs have been developed and the shafts are now made of steel, titanium, carbon fiber,
or other types of metals. Golf heads are made up of by following metal types
 Zinc
 Die Cast Aluminums, HST and 6061 Aluminum
 304 Stainless Steel
 Carbon Steel
 431 Stainless Steel
 17-4 Stainless Steel
 6-4 Titanium
 15-5 Stainless Steel
 Beta Titanium
 Maraging Metal
 Woods are made from different metals such as
 Titanium
 Steel
 Irons are golf clubs with a flat angled face and a shorter shaft than a wood.They are called
irons because they were made of metal.
 Putters can be manufactured from wood and metals.

18. Golf Ball
 The first wound ball had three layers made by winding a
small, hard core with elastic, rubber thread stretched
many times its length and then coating it with a layer of
gutta-percha. It was also the first modern ball, although it
did not take long for manufacturers to replace the more
rigid gutta-percha with rubber.
 Gutta-percha/ Polyisoprene
 Gutta-percha chemical name is polyterpene, a polymer of
isoprene, or polyisoprene, specifically (trans-1,4-
polyisoprene).The cis structure of polyisoprene is the
common latex elastomer.

19. Golf Ball Chemicals
 Trans-1,4 polyisoprene
 Trans-1,4-polyisoprene (gutta-percha) resembles plastic and is used e.g. in golf balls,
deep sea cables, orthopedic applications and adhesives.Trans-1,4 polyisoprene is the
dominant isomer in gutta-percha and balata, two materials that, like natural rubber,
are derived from the milky exudates of certain trees.

 Unlike the cis-1,4 polymer, however, the trans-1,4 polymer is highly crystalline, so
balata and gutta-percha are tough, hard, and leathery materials-properties that led in
the 19th century to their use as sheathings for underwater cables and golf balls.

 The trans-1,4 polymer can also be synthesized with Ziegler-Natta catalysts, yielding
a synthetic balata of similar properties that also is employed in golf-ball covers as
well as in orthopedic devices such as splints and braces.
 Surlyn copolymer
 Modern day golf balls are made up of Surlyn copolymer which belongs to family of
high-performance ethylene copolymers containing acid groups partially neutralized
using metal salts such as zinc, sodium and others.

20. Football
 Football is a team game played by both men and women. It has gone
through a dramatic change over time. In 1863 British Football Federation
was formalized this game.
 Football materials
 Cloths
 Ball
 Gloves
 Goal post
 Football
 The 1970 ball was made of leather but by 1974 the football had a "Durlast"
polyurethane coating that provided waterproofing as well as protection
from damage such as scuffs and tears.
 Football contain
 Outer layer – it is made of leather or plastic material
 Internal layer – It is made of latex or butyl

21. Gloves
 It is made up of
 Synthetic leather
 Rubber
 Neoprene
 Cloth

22. Squash
 Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two
players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber
ball.
 Squash playing equipments include
 Squash ball
 Racquet
 Eye protection
 Shoes

23. Squash ball
 Squash balls, being made of a rubber compound, are of fairly low resilience.
When a squash ball hits the racket strings and the wall and floor of the
court, some of this energy is transformed into heat in the strings, wall, floor,
and surrounding air and some into sound, but most of it becomes heat in
the ball itself.

 This has two effects: the air inside the ball effectively becomes ‘pressurized’,
and the rubber compound from which the ball is made becomes more
resilient.

 Squash balls are between 39.5 and 40.5 mm in diameter, and have a mass of
23 to 25 grams and these are made up of
 Polymers
 Fillers
 Vulcanizing agents
 Processing aids

24. Cricket
 Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11
players on a field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard
long pitch. Cricket was first played in southern England in the 16th
century. By the end of the 18th century, it had developed into the
national sport of England.
 Cricket game requires following materials
 Bat
 Ball
 Gloves
 Helmet
 Shoes
 Pads
 Wickets
 Bails

25. Cricket Helmet
 Different parts of cricket helmet is made up
 Titanium
 Polycarbonate
 ABS plastic
 Polyester

26. Pole vaulting
 Pole vaulting is a track and field event in which a person uses a long, flexible pole as an aid to
leap over a bar. It has been a full medal event at the Olympic Games since 1896 for men and
2000 for women.
 Pole vaulting pole is made up of carbon-fiber to promote higher jump. In recent years, carbon
fiber has been added to the commonly used E-glass and S-glass materials.

 MaterialCompositionPercentageS-
 Glass materialSilicon dioxide64-66%
 Aluminium oxide24-26% Magnesium oxide9-11% E-Glass materialCalcium oxide16-
25% Aluminium oxide12-16% Boron5-10%
 Polyoxymethylene
 Thermoplastic Polyester Elastomer
 Polybutylene Terephthalate
 Polyethylene Terephthalate

 There are certain materials used in sports equipment which are used for different purposes
and these materials are varies according to the purpose.


27. Material requirements for pole vault
 Purpose Materials
 Low density Bamboo
 Stiffness Aluminum
 Strong Steel
 Minimal twisting Magnesium; Carbon fiber
composite

28. Material requirements for Bicycle
competition
 Purpose Materials
 Low density Carbon fiber composite
 Stiffness Aluminum
 Strong Titanium
 Toughness Magnesium
 Fatigue resistance Steel

29. Baseball
 Baseball, like softball, is unlike most other competitive sports in that the
defense is given control of the ball. Equipment used in this game is
 Baseball
 Baseball bat
 Baseball glove – It is usually lined with polyurethane film
 Bases
 Helmet - Most helmets are made from crack-resistant, injection-molded
plastic, such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) or fiberglass.
 Face mask
 Mouth guard - Mouth guards are made of rubber or flexible polyvinyl,
which is highly durable and easy to mold.
 Uniform –These are made of a blend of synthetic fibers including nylon,
polyester, rayon, and acetate.
 Shin guard - Shin guards are made from fiberglass, polyurethane, or foam
rubber

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