| Physics:
Crash Test Dummies |
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| Physics
students begin by building a vehicle designed to keep two egg
passengers safe on their trip down an inclined ramp. The ramp for
the experiment was constructed by the Cushing Ag Department. |
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| Students had to be creative as they were limited to wood and paper building materials for their vehicles. | |
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| Once
the vehicles were constructed, it was time to create two passengers for
the ride down the ramp. |
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| From the expressions on the egg people's faces, they were either excited or terrified about their upcoming trip down the ramp. | |
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| Some made the trip successfully....... | |
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| ...............and
some did not. |
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Students
learned that faster cars hit the wall with more force and without
seatbelts, the egg passengers continued to go forward after the vehicle
stopped. (Newton's Law of Motion). They learned that the purpose
of a vehicle's bumper is to absorb some of the shock of a collision. |
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Students gained an understanding
of kinetic and potential energy from this experiment and utilized
several formulas such as F = ma (Force = mass * acceleration) and W =
mg (Weight = mass * gravity). They learned that engineers use
these principles in real life applications to design and test cars and
seatbelts for safety purposes.
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photos by Debbie Collier |