The rules for the shot put specify that the circle from which the shot-putter puts the shot must be only 7 ft 6 in. in diameter. The athlete may not allow any part of his or her body to touch anything outside of the circle during the throw. If the throwing circle were enlarged to be 10.0 ft in diameter, would performances in the shot put improve or decline? Why?

His performance would improve

Explanation:

This is because, he now has a larger distance to cover in the 10.0 ft diameter circle. This increased distance would cause him to give a greater angular speed to his whirl and thus a greater tangential velocity to the shot put. This greater speed would thus cause the shot put to travel more in the 10.0 ft diameter circle throw than in the 7 ft 6 in diameter circle throw.

The performance will improve because more energy will be expended on the shot

Explanation:

The performance in the shot put is the work done or the energy expended by the short putter

Work done = Energy expended = Force applied by the short putter * displacement

When the diameter of the shot = 7ft 6 in = 7.5 ft

Work done = 7.5 * Force

When the diameter of the shot = 10 ft

Work done = 10 * force

Since the circle is enlarged, shot putter will be able to do more work on the shot, causing an increase in the expended energy, hence an improvement in performance