PhysicsTalk

Pleasetakenoteofanyimportanttopicsorvocabulary.
KineticEnergyTheenergypossessedbyamovingbodyiscalledkinetic
energy.KE=mv^2
WorkTheamountofforceappliedonanobjectoveracertaindistance
W=Fxd

CheckingUp
Thoughtfullyrespondtothefollowingcheckingupquestions.Reference
thetextwheneverneeded.Donotcopythetext,respondonlyinyourown
words.
1.
Abody'skineticenergycanbedeterminedbyitsmotionormassand
velocity.
2.
Whenworkisdoneonanobjectthekineticenergyisaffectedbyeither
increasingordecreasing.Thisthoughwouldalldependonthedirectionthe
forceisappliedandthedistancetheobjecttravels.

3.
Whenaforceactsuponanobjectforalongdistancetheforcerequiredto
stoptheobjectwouldbedecrease.Meanwhileiftheforceactinguponthe
objectacteduponitforashortdistancetheforcerequiredtostopthe
objectwouldincrease.Thisforcerequiredtostoptheobjectdiffersbased
onthedistancetheforceactsupontheobject.Thisisbecausethelonger
thedistancetheworkisdoneontheobjectthelessforcerequiredtobring
ittoastop.Meanwhileiftheworkdoneontheobjectisappliedovera
shorterdistancethemoreforcethatisrequiredtobringtheobjecttoastop.

Whatdoyouthinknow?
Atthebeginningofthesection,youwereaskedthefollowing:

Howwouldyouanswerthisquestionnow?
Istillagreewithmypastideaofhowtheairbagprotects

youduringan
accident.Ilearnedthoughsomethingnewabouthowtheairbagprotects

youduringanaccidentwhichIwouldliketoaddtomyresponse.The
airbagprotectsyoubyproducingalargestoppingdistance.Withthis
greaterdistancetheworktostopyoucanbeappliedoveragreater
distanceandcauselessdamagetotheskull.

EssentialQuestions
Pleaserespondtothefollowing:

Explainhowyoucanchangetheenergyofaneggoranautomobileduring
acollisionwithoutviolatingthelawofconservationofenergy.
Duringacollisionanautomobilecanchangeitsenergy.Theenergycan
decreaseorincreasenotthetotalamountbutthetypeandtheamountin
theautomobile.Thisoccursbecausewhentheautomobileisinthecollision
ittransformssomeofthekineticenergyintopotentialenergy,thermal,or
soundchangingthetheamountofeachtypeofenergy.Theautomobile
canalsodecreaseorincreaseitstotalenergybytransferringitintothe
objecttheautomobileitscrashingintoorreceivingenergyfromit.Someof
theenergyduringthecollisioncantransformfollowingthelawof
conservationofenergysincetheenergyonlytransformsandthetotal
dosentchange.Thetransferringofenergyalsofollowsthelawof
conservationofenergybecausetheenergydecreasesorincreasesand
isntdestroyedorcreated
.

PhysicstoGo
Respondtothefollowingquestions,showyourworkonallcalculations.
1.
a)
Thecatchersmittiscushionlikeandwhenthehardballiscaughtthe
energyfromitKEtobeexacttransformsintoEPEwhenithitsthemitt.The
mittabsorbstheenergyofthehardballbutitalsoextendsthestopping
distance(bycushioningit)toreducetheforcethehardballcrasheswith.

b)Whenthepersonlandsandbendstheirkneesitworkslikeanairbagand
absorbssomeoftheenergythepersonlandswith.Thekneesalsohelp
reducetheforcethatthepersonlandswithbyincreasingtheperson's
stoppingdistance.
c)TheEPEturnsintoKEandGPEthebungeegoesupanddownandit
rotates.Theflexibilityandcushionlikematerialthebungeeismadeoutof
helpsthepersonnotgointotheairtohardbydecreasingtheforcethe
bungeemoveswithandapplyingastoppingdistance.
d)Thewrestlermatthelpsabsorbtheforcethepersongetpushedonthe
groundwithandincreasesitsstoppingdistance,lessingtheforcebydoing
sothankstothesoftandcushionlikematerial.

2.
Ifyourspeedtriplesfrom20kphto60kph,yourkineticenergyincreases
byafactorof3.Ninetimesthekineticenergy.

5.
KineticEnergy(J)

Mass(kg)

Speed(m/s)

500

1000

200,000

1000

20

100,000

500

20

50,000

500

~14

450,000

1000

30

10.
TheonlysafetydevicesthatIknowofthatdecreasetheforce
experiencedapassengerbyincreasingthestoppingdistancearethe
airbagsandmaybeacushionlikeheadrest.Ithinkwhatthesesafety
devicesandthequestiononesafetydeviceshaveincommonisthatthey
allaremadeofatypeofsoft,cushionlike,flexible,dentablematerial.
ThesecharacteristicsIthinkhelpthemmanageenergybetterbecausethe
energycanbetransferredintoEPEmuchfasterandeasierthanahard

surface.ThesimilarmaterialthesafetydevicesaremadeoutofIthinkhelp
themabsorbmoreenergyorforcebetterthenharderobjects.Iwasthinking
ofincorporatingacushion,soft,flexible,anddentablematerialsoitcan
managetheenergyduringacollisionIncorporatingatypeofairbagor
spongetohelpabsorbthecollisionenergy
.

InquiringFurther
1.
Yes,Ifoundthatairbagsdocauseinjuries,rarelybuttheydoandmostof
thetimetheyaresevere,significant,andtraumatizing.Thedangersareof
thatyoucangethurtfromtheairbagnotabsorbingenoughenergyor
creatingtooshortofastoppingdistance.Theinjuriescanrangefromminor
scratchesandscrapestoconcussionsandinternalbleeding.Thephysics
behindthatdangeristhattheairbagcannotabsorbenoughforceand/or
applytheforcethroughalargeenoughdistance.Peoplecanreducethe
chanceofinjuryduetoairbagsbyputtingontheirseatbelt,notbeingtoo
closetotheairbag,sittingproperly,placekids12andunderintheback
seatandrestrainedproperly
.