Celebrate the science of transportation with memorabilia from Zazzle! Colorful graphs from Schottenbauer Publishing are featured on these mugs, magnets, keychains, & postcards. Graphs features the motion of a car, train, rocket, parachute, falling plastic bag, and ball floating in water. A direct link is included below:
Geometry is an essential element of transportation design. Take a moment to write down a few ways in which geometry affects cars and other vehicles.
Discussion Questions
- What data is necessary to collect in order to understand the role of geometry in transportation?
- What spatial perspectives and/or mathematical planes are relevant?
The cover of The Geometry of Cars, to the right above, features a car on the road.
Discussion Questions
- What angles can be measured on the diagram?
- Which angles are most relevant for the vehicle as it travels on the road?
- Is any essential information missing from the picture? What is necessary in order to measure that information?
Geometry diagrams featuring automobiles and other vehicles are available in the following book from Schottenbauer Publishing:
Geometry Workbooks
Additional Information
Automobile collisions can be studied safely in the laboratory, demonstrating force and acceleration with model cars. The graph below is excerpted from The Science of Cars: Volume 2 from Schottenbauer Publishing.
Discussion Questions
- Is the accelerometer on the car or the Hummer? How can this be determined?
- What is the maximum acceleration?
- What is the maximum force?
- How many collisions are shown in the graph?
- For each collision, state the acceleration and force involved in the collision.
- Calculate the average acceleration and average force across all collisions.
- Estimate the average force and average acceleration prior to the collisions.
- Write a proportion which relates the average force of impact to the average force prior to the collision.
- Write a proportion which relates the average acceleration at impact to the average acceleration prior to the collision.
- Does the angle of collision affect the impact? How?
Additional Information
The most basic education in classical physics requires an understanding of one-dimensional and two-dimensional motion. These can be illustrated and analyzed through a variety of graphs.
The topic of transportation is ideal for studying trajectory. Basic physics equations pertain to all types of transportation.
Below are two examples of trajectories, the first modeled by a radio-controlled toy SUV and the second by a radio-controlled toy car. These graphs are excerpted from The Science of Cars: Volume 3 from Schottenbauer Publishing.
Discussion Questions
- In how many dimensions does the SUV move? a) 1, b) 2, c) 3.
- What is the total distance the SUV moves?
- What is the average velocity of the SUV?
- What is the average acceleration of the SUV?
- In how many dimensions does the car move? a) 1, b) 2, c) 3.
- What is the total distance the car moves?
- What is the average velocity of the car?
- What is the average acceleration of the car?
Additional Information
Several new book series from Schottenbauer Publishing provide graphs and data for educational purposes on the science of popular forms of transportation, including boats, airplanes, cars, trains, bicycles, rollerskates, rollerblades, and skateboards. Selections include several multi-volume series with graphs from specific transportation topics, as well as an anthology of 28 graphs demonstrating a variety of mathematical functions related to transportation! Plus, geometry workbooks contain action diagrams of cars and boats, providing exciting opportunities for elementary school children to learn about angles and measurement!
Books are available from CreateSpace wholesale, as well as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, and other internet retailers!
Additional Information
