Student Handout in Word format
Physics and Your Car
This demonstration is designed to teach you a little about cars and how friction and speed affect driving and crashing.
Calculate the “high” velocity.
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Calculate the “low” velocity.
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t=
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Why are the measurements done several times and averaged?
How are speed and stopping distance related?
At low speed, stopping distance is _________ cm.
Predict the stopping distance at high speed from the low speed and low speed stopping distance.
At high speed, stopping distance is _________ cm.
A 1000 kg car decelerates at a rate of 10 m/s2. What is the magnitude of the force acting on the car? Where does this force come from?
The friction between your car’s tires and the road is called ____________________.
Water and motor oil have low coefficients of friction. What does this tell us about stopping distance and road conditions/weather?
What happened if a driver applied the breaks too hard for the road conditions before the invention of anti-lock breaks?
How does the car stop? What forces are involved?
