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Teacher Concepts

1. The document is a concept organizer with questions about car crashes that provides answers by referencing Newton's laws of motion and the physics principles of inertia, momentum, impulse, and energy. 2. It discusses how crash tests are conducted at the IIHS Vehicle Research Center to evaluate vehicle crashworthiness and how crumple zones, airbags, and other safety features help reduce crash forces on occupants by extending the impact time. 3. The key physics concepts covered include inertia, which causes objects at rest or in motion to resist changes; momentum as the product of mass and velocity; impulse as the product of force and time; and how kinetic and potential energy transform during collisions according to the laws of conservation of energy

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Mateo Lobato
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120 views2 pages

Teacher Concepts

1. The document is a concept organizer with questions about car crashes that provides answers by referencing Newton's laws of motion and the physics principles of inertia, momentum, impulse, and energy. 2. It discusses how crash tests are conducted at the IIHS Vehicle Research Center to evaluate vehicle crashworthiness and how crumple zones, airbags, and other safety features help reduce crash forces on occupants by extending the impact time. 3. The key physics concepts covered include inertia, which causes objects at rest or in motion to resist changes; momentum as the product of mass and velocity; impulse as the product of force and time; and how kinetic and potential energy transform during collisions according to the laws of conservation of energy

Uploaded by

Mateo Lobato
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CONC EPT

“UNDERSTANDING CAR CRASHES: IT’S BASIC PHYSICS”


ORGA N I Z ER
A N SW ER S Concept Organizer

TIME* Part I: Before the Video


Directions: Before viewing the video, answer the question below. Be prepared to
discuss your answer.

Why do some spectacular racecar crashes produce only minor injuries?


Combination of crashworthiness of vehicle, extended impact time, and energy
dissipation away from driver.

Teaching Tip: Discuss a few students’ answers before viewing, but wait until
after viewing to reveal the answer to this question.

Part II: During the Video


Directions: While viewing the video, complete the fill-in-the blank statements with the
correct terms OR circle the correct answers if provided. (Times in left margin indicate
when each item is discussed.)

Teaching Tip: Pause the video every 2-3 minutes to allow student pairs to
share/discuss their answers.

IIHS’s Vehicle Research Center


1:10 1. It is a fascinating place where research engineers assess the crash performance of
vehicles by running tests and where they evaluate new technologies to prevent
injuries.
Test Track Laws
2:00 2. Why did the dummy get left behind? It’s called inertia , the property of matter
that causes it to resist any change in it motion.
2:15 3. Isaac Newton’s First Law of Motion states: A body at rest remains at rest unless
acted upon by an external force; and a body in motion continues to move at a
constant speed in a straight line unless it is acted upon by an external force.
Crashing Dummies
3:20 4. Now watch what happens when the car crashes into a barrier. The front end of the
car is crushing and absorbing energy which slows down the rest of the car.
4:00 5. In this case, it is the steering wheel and windshield that apply the force that
overcomes the dummy's inertia.
Crash-Barrier Chalkboard
4:20 6. Newton explained the relationship between crash forces and inertia in his
(Circle one): 1st 2nd 3rd Law of Motion.
4:50 7. Fill in the blanks to complete the formula.
Ft = impulse Ft = m∆v m∆v = change in momentum

*These times are for the full-length video.


Disregard times if watching individual video chapters.
iihs.org
CONC EPT
“UNDERSTANDING CAR CRASHES: IT’S BASIC PHYSICS”
ORGA N I Z ER
A N SW ER S Concept Organizer

TIME* Surfers, Cheetahs, and Elephants ...oh my!


5:15 8. Momentum is inertia in motion. It's the product of an object's mass and its velocity.
Soccer Kicks, Slap Shots, and Egg Toss
5:50 9. Impulse is the product of force and the time interval during which the force acts.
6:35 10. The wall applies a larger force over a shorter time.
11. The sheet applies a smaller force over a longer time.
Fighter pilots, astronauts, and crash occupants
7:40 12. People often refer to g’s as forces but they are not. A g is a standard unit of
acceleration .
8:00 13. People in serious car crashes experience high g’s and this can cause injury .
9:04 14. Three things that extend the time of impact in a collision are: crumple zones,
airbags , and break-away light poles .
Conserving momentum and energy - It’s the law!
10:50 15. Momentum has a directional property, so it is called a vector quantity.
12:00 16. Weight vs. Size in car crashes:
Size helps you in all kinds of crashes.
Weight is primarily an advantage in a crash with another vehicle.
Newton and energy
12:55 17. Energy is the ability to do work .
13:15 18. Motion related energy is called kinetic energy.
Energy due to an object’s position or condition is called potential energy.
14:15 19. At what point in the pendulum's swing is its potential energy equal to its kinetic
energy? mid-point
Engineering safer vehicles
16:10 20. We use the term crashworthiness to describe the protection a car offers its
occupants during a crash.

17:10 21. If we can crumple the front end of the car without allowing any damage to the
occupant compartment then the people inside can be protected against serious
injury.
18:40 22. When the safety cage collapses, you are going to have injuries to the occupants.

*These times are for the full-length video.


Disregard times if watching individual video chapters.
iihs.org

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