Laws of Motion and Automobiles Felicia Huerta Pre-AP Physics Sir Isaac Newton once stated, “I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people,” referring to the ability to prevent accidents from occurring. Throughout my research paper, I will be discussing how the Newton’s Laws of Motion apply to automobiles. I believe this is an extremely interesting and relatable topic because we are at the age where we are beginning to drive without relying on our parents. Although some people may not currently be driving, we have friends or acquaintances who are able to do so and should be informed on how a collision happens and how it affects the vehicle. Additionally, adults nowadays are not serious about driving even though it’s a dangerous process, thus encouraging me to inform people on the subject. We should all be well aware on the issues concerning driving because we all have some sort of interaction with vehicles in our everyday lives. This interaction refers to being the driver of the automobile, the passenger, or the people walking around the vehicle. In fact, in the sixth grade, we learned about Newton’s Laws of Motion and how they apply to vehicles. When learning about these laws, we usually used examples of cars impacting a brick wall or another car. Because we have been learning about these laws since we were little, I strongly believe everyone should be aware of them and how they relate to automobiles. I also want to inform my peers on how
Newton’s Laws played a great part into the motion and function of our car. His first law is known as the law of inertia. Both inertia and friction were the driving forces to slow down the car, limiting the distance and lengthening the time as shown by the most successful run of the car, five meters in around eighteen
Eighteen wheelers are a vital part of interstate commerce in our country. The big rigs carry products across state lines, and keep our stores’ shelves stocked with the things we need on a daily basis. But, when a trucker is involved in an accident, the injuries are usually catastrophic. The sheer weight of a truck is such that when it collides with a car, the results are severe. Drivers and passengers in cars can suffer broken bones, internal organ damage, spinal and brain cord injuries, or even death. Staying safe around big rigs requires drivers to pay extra special attention when near a truck, and to keep a safe distance. But, drivers can only do so much; it also takes diligence on the part of the trucker in order to safely share the road.
Rubbernecking has been an issue in the world since automobiles were invented. “This common behavior not only leads to traffic tie-ups, it may cause up to 10% of accidents that occur in the opposite direction on the highway”(Solomon). Why do we want to know so badly? Assistant editor Sarah Grey quotes Michael Stevens in her article on the science of rubbernecking. He says, “We often find uncertainty more unpleasant than unpleasant certainty.”
In her article “To Hit the Road, Driverless Cars Must Be Safe, Not Perfect,” Nidhi Kalra argues that because humans are untrustworthy when it comes to safe driving, we should adapt to driverless cars. She provides three premises to support her argument. First, she presents the data of deaths and injuries that were caused by human mistakes. Second, she points out that even though driverless cars may never reach perfection, they would never make miscalculations or mistakes that human drivers make all the time, such as drunk driving, drowsy driving, or driving with distraction. Third, she argues that driverless cars offer benefits such as bettering mobility and efficiency, reducing congestion costs and land use. With these primary premises, Kalra persuades that driverless cars should hit the road one day to reduce amounts of accidents that are likely made by human drivers.
About 1.3 million individuals pass on in street crashes every year, all things considered 3,287 passings per day. Every year about 400,000 individuals under 25 bite the dust on the world's streets, by and large more than 1,000 a day. More than 90% of all street fatalities happen in low and center wage nations, which have not as much as half of the world's vehicles. The greater part of all street activity passings happen among youthful grown-ups ages 15-44. The mind larger part (75 percent) of genuine adolescent driver crashes are because of "basic blunders," with the three basic mistakes representing about
In today’s world, many drivers have become complacent in the fact that the vehicle in which they are operating can be a deadly weapon. A two-ton hunk of metal flying down the freeway at speeds excess of seventy miles an hour carries much potential for catastrophe.
Similarly, the article “The Moral Challenges of Driverless Cars” explains how driverless cars will be a safer alternative. It explains how humans are more prone to cause an accident than the driverless cars. The article describes the processing behind the vehicles and some problems they face while making them along with how this will delay their production. It also clarifies how the cars will be able to make the decisions that will keep people safe instead of putting them in harm’s way. Finally, the article describes the ethical issues and automation in cars today. According to Kirkpatrick, the cars are equipped with software that determine what reaction to make in different situations that would take a human more time to make, therefore, avoiding an accident. As stated in this article, there is still much work to be done before the cars are actually ready to sell to the public.
In this Car Crash Project, we had to make sure we used Newton’s 3 laws. Let me explain you how I used the 3 laws in my project. For my project, I had three main important parts in my car. One of them was the crumple zone because the car is in motion until it hits the yellow which is the outside force. In Newton’s First Law he states that every object stays in motion unless acted upon an outside force. Here the object in motion is the car, and the outside force is the yellow stump. Another main component was the seat belt. The seat belt fell in Newton’s Second Law. In that law, it explains how force equals mass x acceleration. So, When the egg is wearing the seatbelt it will stop the egg from accelerating or being in motion. If it was accelerating
In the essay it will include; how distractions can affect your reaction time. How the braking distance is affected by speed. What the design of a vehicle and road conditions, can have an impact on a pedestrian. How the speed affects the occupants, if the car were to collide with a rigid object. And what design features are being put in place to minimise fatalities in car accidents.
Newton’s First Law (aka inertia) states that an object in motion will stay in motion with the same speed and direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. If a car was travelling at 80km/hr, everything inside the car including the passengers will also be travelling at 80km/hr. If that car hits a brick wall, the car would stop moving but the passengers would continue moving at 80km/hr until they hit a solid object such as the headrest or the wall unless they were wearing a seatbelt. Seatbelts also stretch when force is applied, which helps dissipate the inertial energy and reduce the speed at which the passenger is travelling.
In the recent years, the United States government has been enforcing stricter mandates on auto manufacturers to create safer vehicles, and on construction companies to create safer roadways. Matthew Jensen wrote a dissertation for the Graduate School of Clemson University titled, A Methodology for the Analysis of In-vehicle Operating Data and Design of Intelligent Vehicle Systems for Improved Automotive Safety. In his abstract, Jensen evaluated the future of vehicle manufacturing and traffic-related incidents. Of course, every year more vehicles are manufactured, which in theory means the number of miles driven in vehicles increases. He points out how the World Health Organization (WHO) found that automobile crashes was the ninth
It must be noted that cars are dangerous vehicles which can cause fatal damage. Individuals responsible for a vehicle are expected to be more alert than pedestrians walking down the street or crossing the road, this is known as “destructive disparity”. This
The research question I have selected is “How do the laws of motion apply to automobiles?” I choose this topic because there is plenty of concepts used in physics that can be applied to the topic that I chose. Also this question targets an everyday object and is a real life example of how physics applied to the world and my life. One concept that can be applied to this question are Newton’s Laws of Motion. Newton’s first law is called the Law of Inertia. This states that an object in motion will stay in motion and an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. For example, the automobile will continue moving at the same rate if unbalanced forces like friction and air resistance were not present. If there is an opposing force like another car that comes into contact with the vehicle and causes a collision, the car will change in motion and speed. The second concept that can be applied is Newton’s second law of motion. Newton’s second law of motion is force is equal to mass times acceleration. If there is a greater mass, then there has to be more force to accelerate the object. For example, an automobile has to have the required force act on it to move and accelerate. If it does not have the required force to move, then there will be no motion in the car and therefore no acceleration, it will stay at rest. The formula to calculate force is F=ma. The product of the mass and acceleration of the object is force. The mass and acceleration can also be
As a student athlete, I feel great curiosity and wonder when I see objects in motion. From a machine or mechanical system to a person playing football or swimming in a pool, the idea of the forces behind motion feeds my imagination. I aim to become a mechanical engineer someday. Considering this fascination, I was fortunate to be able to learn about motion and forces in physics class. Given the opportunity to research an IA of my own interest, I wanted to learn more about forces. Naturally, I narrowed down this topic to include one of the most influential moving mechanical systems in the modern world…an automobile. However, as it would be potentially dangerous to conduct experiments with full size cars, I created an
Have you ever dreamt of having your very own Herbie? The car with its own mind that drives by itself? Part of your dreams might become reality soon, as Google engineers have already had test drove their newly developed self-driving car on more than 180,000 miles of highways and roads!