A scientific look at the efficiency of curling brooms by Jenni Gill

Abstract:

Curling is one of the most popular sports in Canada but the equipment hasn’t been improved through the scientific method.  This project looks at which of the main steam curling broom works best and how they compare to one that I have designed.  I had two volunteer sweepers sweep a rock with one broom then a control rock was throne.  Using the same pattern the brooms were rotated until they had each been use five times.  The same experiment was conducted using two different sweepers to gain a good base of data.  I had built a launcher to control the main variable of the force used to throw a rock.  On average a rock swept with my broom design went 1.75 meters further then a rock without sweepers.  On the other hand a rock swept with a broom head made of hog hair went the same distance as a rock that was not swept.  My hypothesis was that my design would work the best and the data generally supported that hypothesis.  Without further testing though a definite conclusion cannot be stated.  What I can say for sure is that the hog hair broom consistently doesn’t work as well as the other brooms.