Vehicle Safety(Egg Cars)

Vehicle Safety Features

Crumple Zone (Bumper)A vehicle should have a high strength passenger area and then impact absorbing crumple zones surrounding it.

Crumple Zone (Bumper)The idea is for the crumple zone to absorb the impact and crush inward but leave the passenger compartment undamaged.

Passenger Restraints (Seat Belts)

• The less the passenger moves, the less they can be or are injured.

• Seatbelts hold the passenger in place.

Air Bags

An air bag keeps the passenger from bouncing around or hitting the hard parts of the interior of the vehicle.

Newton’s Laws of Motion

Newton’s 1st Law of Motion

• Newton’s first law states that an object in motion will stay in motion (everything in the car not that’s not attached to the vehicle) unless an equal and opposite force acts on it (this being the seat belt, slowing the driver down).

• So when in a crash, the passenger will continue to move forward at the same rate as the vehicle was without restraint.

Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion• Acceleration is produced when a force acts on a mass. The

greater the mass (of the object being accelerated) the greater the amount of force needed (to accelerate the object).

F = MA (force = mass x acceleration)• Force applied = rate of change of momentum. • So to reduce the force in a crash, the rate of change of

momentum needs to be reduced (i.e. the deceleration)• So an air bag slows the passenger down gradually or crumple

zones on the front/back of the car will gradually bring it to a halt rather than a sudden stop.

Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion

Since FORCE IS EQUAL TO MASS MULTIPLIED BY ACCELERATION (F = ma), a car with a much greater mass will likely do better or even survive in a car crash compared to a car with a smaller mass, even if the two vehicles were travelling at the same acceleration.

Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion

• For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.• This means that if you’re hurled from a vehicle and you hit the

ground, or a pole, or even the dashboard or windshield, the object that you hit hits you back with a force of the exact same magnitude as the force you hit it with.

Crash Test DummiesThese brave souls put their lives on the line for YOUR safety!

Be Safe!!!!