Hey everyone!...I need to do a physics project relevant to physics on either kinematics, force and acceleration, work, energy, or momentum. I am thinking about doing it on something car-crash related, but I don't know what direction to take it in. If you can give me any ideas on where to take this idea, it would be much appreciated. If you have something different than my car-crashing idea that relates to at least one of these contents, it would be acceptable as well. Thank you!
2006-07-24 16:17:27 · 8 answers · asked by Sparkles 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
I take it that you haven't got enough money or expendable friends to use real cars in your crash research. How about this project using toy cars? The results should be valid for real car crashes. Most of us assume that a car colliding head-on with a brick wall at 20 kph will suffer less damage than if it collided head-on with another car travelling at 20kph. Many would say that the latter case is like hitting a brick wall at 40 kph. But a counter argument to this is that two identical cars colliding at 20 kph will exactly cancel each others' momentum and stop dead, just like a 20kph car slamming into a stationary immovable object like a brick wall. I'm a physics graduate but I'm unclear which argument is correct. Why don't you investigate experimentally, using scale models, to see which situation results in more damage? I'll be interested in your results, and they've got obvious useful safety implications.
2006-07-24 17:37:49 · answer #1 · answered by zee_prime 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I agree - something involving billiards would probably give you good marks, as well as a chance to use ALL of the topics you stated.
Work, Force, and acceleration = acceleration of the cue
Energy = Kinetic energy of all the balls
Momentum = transferred from cue to balls, then balls to other balls
If I were you, I would also find some coefficient of friction between the table and balls. Pretend they're sliding though, not rolling - rolling friction, well, it's much more complicated.
2006-07-24 16:59:00 · answer #2 · answered by jsprplc2006 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Got back to Theory of Energy and Motion. You didn't say how complicated the project had to be. If it was a simple one, you could drop a ball of a roof and have it all covered. If you don't recall, the person that was researching that was arrested for it. I'll let you do a little research and you will be surprised who it was.
He was also big in Astronomy?
2006-07-24 17:21:49 · answer #3 · answered by Little Tree 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
what about measureing the acceleration a human body would feel during a collision. because it probably works alot differently then most people would expect heh and get some cool sounding numbers too.
2006-07-24 16:27:01 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Music: Harmonics and Chords. (how certain tones interfere with each other/harmonize) Just one idea. It's a very in-depth topic that I am very interested in, being a musician.
2016-03-27 05:47:10 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Another good one would be a pool/billiard table. Lots of physics laws in a game of pool
2006-07-24 16:28:12 · answer #6 · answered by whcastle 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Do something with how Roller-Coasters are constructed (i.e. the math and the research behind the construction.)
2006-07-24 16:24:41 · answer #7 · answered by I-Eat-Paint-Chips 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How about doing the project on rollercoasters?
2006-07-24 16:24:20 · answer #8 · answered by PurpleFool 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋