Physics - Research Assignment

Claim: Knowledge of forces and motion has led to improvements in car technology which makes travelling by
car safer

Rationale

The claim, “Knowledge of forces and motion has led to improvements in car technology which makes travelling
by car safer”, is a broad speculation and can be categorized into multiple aspects that can be investigated.

Major aspects of this claim can be simplified to the forces that are involved in the motion of cars and how cars
have become safer due to the knowledge of these motions.

It was researched that, force is the push or pull on an object with mass that causes it to change velocity. Force
is represented as a vector, meaning it has both magnitude and direction. This was defined by Sir Isaac Newton
who formulated three laws based on his findings on these properties. They were presented in his book
“Principia Mathematica Philosophiae Naturalis.” (Grc.nasa.gov, 2019)

Newton’s first law states that “every object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless
compelled to change its state by the action of a net force.” This is also known as the law of inertia.

Newton’s second law states that acceleration is proportional to force, it can be written in the mathematical
formula of:

F=ma
Where F is force in Newtons, m is mass in kilograms and a is acceleration in ms−2.
Newton’s third law states that “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” (Grc.nasa.gov, 2019)

Friction is also a key force that affects the safety of travelling by car, it is the force that opposes motion, as
shown in Newton’s third law, caused by two surfaces sliding against each other. The coefficient of friction is
the value used to find an object’s frictional forces.

There are two forms of friction, static and dynamic. If an object is pushed, then the object will not start moving
unless it has overcome friction, this is static friction. The friction force drops as the object starts moving, this is
dynamic friction. (Khan Academy, 2019)

The friction can also determine the stopping distance of a vehicle, the more friction the lesser braking distance
is needed.

To find the formula to determine the braking distance of a vehicle, the new equation is created from:

v 2=u2 +2 as
Where v is the final velocity (ms−1), u is initial velocity (ms−1), a is acceleration (ms−2) and s is displacement
(m ). v 2 is assumed to be equal to 0 as the car would eventually come to a complete stop. Therefore, to find
the displacement (braking distance), the equation is rearranged to become:

−u 2
s=
2a
Friction is a key part of the braking distance, and so the coefficient of friction is added to the equation:

u2
s=
2a μ

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Where u is the initial velocity (ms−1), g is acceleration due to gravity (9.80 m/sec 2 ), s is braking distance and
μ is the coefficient of friction between the tires and the roadway.
These topics could be narrowed down to specific technologies, such as seatbelts, airbags etc. Consequently,
the research question to be investigated is as follows:

Research Question

Is the knowledge of Newton’s laws used to design and improve safety mechanisms in cars?

Analysis and Interpretation

A seatbelt is a feature used to maximise the safety of the passengers in the vehicle. Every modern car is legally
required to be equipped with three-point seatbelts with pretensioner technology, over the waist and shoulder.
It is a mechanism that tightens and locks up in the event of a car crash or sudden braking, preventing the body
from being ejected from the vehicle or colliding with the interior. (Tac.vic.gov.au, 2019) This safety mechanism
was developed in response to Newton’s law of inertia, “objects in motion will remain in motion, unless acted
on by another force”. When in motion both passengers and vehicle are travelling at the same speed, if the
vehicle suddenly brakes or is involved in a crash, the passengers will attempt to continue moving at the same
speed the car was moving before it stopped. The seatbelt is used as the opposing force that stops the forward
motion of the passengers. (Tac.vic.gov.au, 2019) Technology has increased over the years to ensure that
seatbelts operate effectively. In recent years, Australia has had 20% of all fatalities being linked to not wearing
seatbelts. (Seatbelts, 2016)

The purpose of airbags is to reduce the injury to the passengers by cushioning them from colliding with the
interior of the vehicle. It is made as a large nylon bag, designed to inflate and deflates rapidly in the event of a
car crash with a harmless gas. When the vehicles brakes are applied, it forces the car to attempt to slow and
stop. The seatbelt exerts a force that stops the body from launching forwards. The head, however, keeps
moving due to lack of restraints, the airbag is used to protect the head from injury. (Mouzakes J, 2001) The
major law at work here is Newton’s third law, if there is no equal and opposite force to stop the head from
moving, it will keep moving like it was while the vehicle was in motion. (Writework.com, 2019) Studies have
shown the efficiency for head protection have reduced the driver’s risk of death by 37%, fatality rates were
reduced by 26% when side airbags were used to protect the torso. Figure 1 shows that the amount of lives
saved by the seatbelts and airbags have both been gradually increasing, this can be linked to the technology of
seatbelts and airbags increasing and most likely will continue increasing. (Mouzakes J, 2001)

Figure 1: Lives saved by Seatbelts and Airbags (Writework.com, 2019)

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The safety of the passengers in a vehicle relies heavily on the quality of the braking system. When the brakes
are applied, a large force is generated, this force stops the rotation of the wheels in order to stop the motion
of the vehicle by applying large amounts of friction to it. (Shoar, 2013)

The Anti-lock Braking System works by detecting the tire rotational speed slowing down below the speed of
the vehicle. The external force, that of the brake on the tire, has slowed the tire down too much and the tire is
skidding. While the tire is skidding, it is unable to provide useful amounts of deceleration for a car and reduces
the amount of control the driver has. In order to maintain “uniform motion”, the ABS system prevents the
wheels from locking up so that the tires experience static friction, instead of dynamic friction. This slows the
vehicle faster and reduces the braking distance.

Figure 2: The coefficients of friction of the vehicle's tires under different circumstances (Physics.hku.hk, 2019)

The Anti-lock Braking System falls under Newton’s Third Law and First Law. The tire pushing against the road
would be the action force and the road pushing against the tire would be the reaction force. Also, according to
the law of inertia, if the vehicle is skidding and has a coefficient of dynamic friction, then it will continue to
traverse at the same velocity it was travelling as there is lesser friction being applied to decelerate.

As shown below, a car with static friction has a shorter braking distance, compared to a car with dynamic
friction on dry concrete which has a longer braking distance. The coefficient of friction is used from figure 2’s
dry concrete at high speed.

Calculation 1. Vehicle with Static Friction at 60km/h:

u2
s=
2 gμ

(16.667 m/s)2
s=
2(9.80 m¿ s 2)(0.6)
s=23.625041667
s=24 m
The stopping distance of the vehicle would be approximately 24 metres.

Calculation 2. Vehicle with Dynamic Friction at 60km/h:

u2
s=
2 gμ

(16.667 m/s)2
s=
2(9.80 m¿ s 2)( 0.4)
s=35.43225625
s=35 m

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The stopping distance of a vehicle that has dynamic friction is 35 metres.

The Anti-lock Braking System uses static friction to decrease the braking distance, making driving and stopping
a vehicle safer for the driver and passengers. The incidence of road traffic crashes with another vehicle due to
brake failure was 50.3 for 1000 non-ABS vehicle-years and 30.0 for 1000 ABS equipped vehicle-years. (Zavareh,
S and S, 2013)

Evaluation

The research question, ‘Is the knowledge of Newton’s laws used to design and improve safety mechanisms in
cars?” was investigated by gathering evidence through multiples sources. The gathered evidence suggests that
the researched safety mechanisms can be explained by using Newton’s laws of motion. However, the majority
of the evidence found was to support specific more well-known mechanisms such as seatbelts by using
Newton’s first law, rather than Anti-locking braking systems and the second and third law. In figure 1, it does
not consider the mass of individual that is wearing the seatbelt and the speeds at which the vehicles are
travelling.

The majority of the sources were found in reliable and credible sources such as articles and essays by
distinguishable professors and prestigious organisations such as NASA. Some of the research discovered was
conducted by lesser reliable sources that might limit the accuracy of the report, yet the information found in
these sources can be considered valid by other sources.

In the research investigation, mass should be considered more as Newton’s laws depend heavily on mass.
More research could go into how the safety mechanisms were designed and what other knowledge is needed
to create them, for instance how the driver’s and passengers’ safety may be compromised in a major car
collision. Further data is needed to establish the severity of the collisions with and without these safety
features to determine how effective they are. More evidence could also be found to deduce the consequences
how and if one of the safety mechanisms failed. Figure 1 can also be furthered by it considering the type of
material that was used in the different years, and how it may increase or decrease the safety of the passenger.

The formula to find braking distance could be extended to consider the roadway grade and how that would
affect a car’s braking distance as the currently used formula assumes that the vehicle is travelling on a
horizontal surface. As such the claim, “Knowledge of forces and motion has led to improvements in car
technology which makes travelling by car safer” can be relatively justified, however, more scientific points
should be considered .

Conclusion

The evidence gathered during research suggests that the majority of safety mechanisms are designed using the
understanding of Newton’s laws of motion. Figure 1 demonstrates the gradually increasing safety in seatbelts
and airbags as the technology increases such as pretensioner technology. The calculations depicting the
braking distance shows the impact of a functioning Anti-lock Braking System, and how the varying distances
can result in a collision or avoid a fatal accident. The majority of vehicle safety technology can be considered to
be dependant on the knowledge of forces and motion. However, it cannot be established that car safety
technologies depend only the knowledge of Newton’s laws motion.

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Bibliography
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on the Incidence and Severity of Maxillofacial Injuries in Automobile Accidents in New York State.
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paragraphs are unified, developed, and coherent. I have not used direct quotations excessively. -
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