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Change is hard...
It's not the fall that kills you, it is the sudden stop. How we control that change depends on several factors: how quickly the change will happen, the total amount of change that will take place, the size or number of objects/people that are changing, and the scope of the change. In this unit we will be working with the changes that happen in physical systems.
HS-PS3-2.
Develop and use models to illustrate that energy at the macroscopic scale can be accounted for as a combination of energy associated with the motion of particles (objects) and energy associated with the relative positions of particles (objects).
HS-PS2-1.
Analyze data to support the claim that Newton’s second law of motion describes the mathematical relationship among the net force on a macroscopic object, its mass, and its acceleration.
HS-PS2-2.
Use mathematical representations to support the claim that the total momentum of a system of objects is conserved when there is no net force on the system.
HS-PS2-3.
Apply science and engineering ideas to design, evaluate, and refine a device that minimizes the force on a macroscopic object during a collision.
Crash Test Barrier
Crash Test Barrier
Design your Own CTB
Design your Own CTB
In this contest you are to build the lightest, smallest, least expensive car crash barrier that is the most effective at slowing down a test vehicle. You are to build your barrier out of 3”x 5” index cards, tape and staples. The test vehicle is a small cart on wheels. The vehicle’s impact speed will be set by rolling the cart down a short ramp. The vehicle is to decelerate as slowly as possible. This will be monitored via an accelerometer embedded within the official test vehicle.
The final test of the barrier will be under the following conditions. The test car will be:
released from the Competition point on the ramp.
fitted with an accelerometer to determine the change in velocity of the car.
Testing Window 1: Your barrier will be impacted by the official test car after traveling down 44% of the final height, giving your car a scaled velocity of 2.0 m/s. The deceleration of the car as it impacts your barrier will be recorded by the accelerometer. Your first design and unofficial results will be posted along with those of every other participant. Learn from these results and build a new barrier for final testing.
Testing Window 2: Similar to window 1 you will have time to test your design before moving back to your table to make any necessary changes to your design.
FINAL TEST: For the final test the car will impact the barrier at from a release height of 100%, giving your car a scaled velocity of 1.0 m/s. This speed is achieved by letting the car travel down a hill ~0.4m meter high before impacting the barrier.
Crash Ratio:
Crash Ratio:
In this activity you are to build a crash barrier that will allow the safest possible stop in a head-on impact with a wall with the highest “Crash Ratio.”
The crash barrier you build will go between the vehicle and the wall.
Crash Rating:
Crash Rating:
The Crash Rating will be determined as followed:
The Impact Velocity will be consistent amongst all competitors.
The “Area” is the area it takes up in the floor this area consists of the largest rectangle into which the barrier can fit. Measured in square centimeters (cm^2)
The deceleration is measured using an accelerometer. The accelerometer measures in m/s^2.
Manufacturing Cost:
Manufacturing Cost:
The crash barrier is limited to
The final score will be determined using the following criteria:
Crash Rating:
Impact Velocity: Same for all cars as they are being released from the same height.
Area in cm^2: Space is always limited on roads and raceways. In this case the smaller the barrier the higher the Crash Rating. Try to make your barrier as compact as possible.
g's of Acceleration: We experience 1g of acceleration most of the time here on Earth. During a collision, these values may spike to dangerous levels. Try to reduce the number of g's to the lowest number possible.
Manufacturing Costs:
Index cars - the metal of our barriers. They will cost 3 points per card used in the final barrier.
cm of Tape - the glue of our barriers. You will be charged 2 point per 5 cm of tape used.
Staples - the rivots of the barriers. You will be charged 1 point per 1 staple used.
Crash Ratio:
The ratio of Crash Rating / Manufacturing Cost (x 1000 to put it into numbers we can use). The highest score wins.
Crash Barrier Annotated Sketch / Drawing:
With your group draw out your ideas for how to create your crash barrier on your whiteboard/notebook. Be sure to label all the pieces and clearly draw it so you will have a guide when you go to make it.
Build your crash barrier carefully following your design. Remember that taking care in constructing your design will improve performance. Once your crash test barrier is built record its measurements in your data table.
Testing Procedure: All crash barriers will be tested the same way by the group and teacher. The same cart will be rolled down an incline from the same height for all groups. Your crash barrier will be between the cart and a wall. Your crash barrier must be contained within the paper box lid supplied and not attached to the wall or to the surface.
Other information like time of impact may be collected. You may also make observations of the car’s impact with your crash barrier and the before and after measurements of your crash barrier.
Given limited materials, how can we (humankind) land delicate vehicles on Mars?
The Jump...not recommended...
A Future in Physics
A Future in Physics
Egg Drop Competition
Egg Drop Competition
An Egg Drop Competition is a common activity in many different grade levels. The goal of this competition is to complete this competition using a minimal amount of materials.
Using five (5) sheets of A4 paper and 1-m of masking tape, create a device that will protect an egg falling from the ACS HS Balcony.
Reflection Questions:
Reflection Questions:
Take a picture of your design, label the protective features of your design.
What was the reasoning behind your design
Describe 2 changes you would make to your design
If your egg survived, predict how high it could be dropped from before breaking
What additional information / topics should we study to be able to improve our device so that we can drop it from a higher point and with fewer materials?
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