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Science Simulations, Technology Simulations, Engineering Simulations, Mathematics Simulations
Lesson 5: How Does Acceleration Affect Vehicle Wear?
A truck is a complex machine. Both cars and trucks have many moving parts. These parts can wear out due to friction. Can the way a person drives affect how long the parts on a truck last? Put yourself in gear and start this investigation.
Here are some definitions to help you in your investigation.
Interaction - a way one thing affects another thing
Force - any push or pull on an object that results in an interaction with another object
Friction - a force that opposes the motion of an object
Speed - how fast something is moving
Acceleration - speeding up, slowing down, or changing the direction of an object
Doing the science
- Select the Sim tab to open the Acceleration simulation.
- Select the gray truck on the left side of the screen by clicking on the truck.
- Select a speed of 20 m/s.
- Allow a couple of seconds for the truck to reach a constant speed. A box appears when the truck reaches a constant speed.
- Choose an acceleration value of “2 m/s2.” Allow the simulation to run.
- Select the “Display Data” option. Click on the “Wear” graph tab.
- Note and record in Table 1 the system wear of the truck.
- Select the “Restart” option.
- Choose the truck and the same speed as you did before.
- Choose an acceleration value of 4 m/s2. Allow the simulation to run.
- Select the “Display Data” option. Click on the “Wear” graph tab.
- Note and record in Table 1 the system wear of the truck.
- Select the “Restart” option.
- Repeat steps 9–13 only using an acceleration of 6 m/s2.
- Repeat steps 9-13 using accelerations of -2 m/s2, -4 m/s2, and -6 m/s2.