Sport

The high jump and pole vault require the athlete to get as far off the ground as they can to clear horizontal bars. In both cases they get a running start. However, to look at the maths behind their sport, you need to look at how high they can jump from a standing start.

Sweet spot

You don't need to be a professional sportsperson to work out where the sweet spot is located – you can do it with maths.

Swing when you're winning

Are winning streaks really the result of success breeding success, or are they nothing more than a statistical fluke?

Reaching new heights

Athletes rarely deviate from traditional techniques simply because they work so well, but sometimes one individual can revolutionise an entire sport.

Design your own skate park

Creating a safe, stable environment with lots of potential for free-riding and tricks takes the input of a lot of skaters, and a fair amount of maths.

Martial Maths

Mechanics, the mathematics of how things move, can explain how a little old man bests several muscle-bound opponents.

Juggling the numbers

How can three or more objects be kept in the air when you’ve only got two hands?

Horsing around with measurements

Horses can be very rewarding pets to own, but they are also rather large. As a responsible horse owner, it’s important to have an idea of your horses’ vital statistics to keep an eye on its condition and the food it needs.

On the way to Wembley

Have you ever thought about the stadiums in which your favourite football team plays?

Flying through water

Swimming records have tumbled thanks to futuristic swimsuits designed with mathematical precision.

One, two, three...fore!

What have golfing and grandfather clocks got in common? It's all in the swing...

How fast can we go?

As world records tumble, biologists use statistics to find the limits of human speed.

Acrobatic arithmetic

Changes to the rules of gymnastics left a lot of people unhappy when they lost the "perfect 10".

The footballing mathematicians

Studying maths doesn’t stop you from playing world-class football. Harald Bohr was a Danish mathematician who won a silver medal at the 1908 summer Olympics. He also played for the Danish club Akademisk Boldklub alongside his Nobel Prize-winning brother, the physicist Niels Bohr.