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The new smart car that has just recently been released has been flooding the market. With its five star crash safety rating and its highly efficient gas mileage there is no question to why it is such a attraction. Mercedes-Benz the owner of the smart car claims that they have conducted rigorous testing and believe the small compact car to be safe as any other car on the road. Many people however has scrutinized the idea of such a small car. They don't perceive the words small and safe can be placed in the same sentence. The smart car has a length of about 100 inches and weighing in at 730 kg it comes to no surprise why some are concerned. Does physics support the claims of the scientists to the capability of the smart car? Do some research to find out the explanations of both sides of the argument. What do you think about the controversy? How does momentum play a role in the physics of keeping a driver safe? I'm looking forward to your responses.
I did some research and found out that the reason why the smart car earned such a high safety rating. The car's frame is built like that of a racecar and made out of a high grade of steel. Its many high-tech safty bags in the front and sides also help provide a safe ride. On the other side, the Insurance institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) testers caution that larger, heavier cars are inherently safer than smaller ones. Physics does not seem to support the claims of the scientists. The heavier car will always be harder to move then the smaller one. You can test this with an easy experiment, take a ping-pong ball and a bowling ball and drop the bowling ball on to the ping-pong ball. Commonsense states that the ping-pong ball will be completely crushed (provided it doesn't pop out). This is the same with cars, if a car crashes into a semi the semi will always win. Momentum plays a huge role in the physics that keep the driver safe. The smaller the mass of the car the faster it would have to be moving in order to keep the momentum in the system equal. So with a larger heavier car you would have to have a velocity much smaller then that of a smart car in order to achieve the same momentum. The faster you are moving the worse the impact is going to be no matter how "safe" it may be. But I also found out that a test was set up where the smart car was drove into a wall at 70mph and it actually remained uncrumpled. This was mainly because of its design, it is made to not crumpled the passenger area thus giving the driver a better chance at survival. But there is another problem the car is designed to stop you from being crushed but all that force has to go somewhere and it turns out you will die from having your organs slam into your skeleton. So that is the smart car. I would never drive one myself, I don't care how safe they say it is it still just looks like a box to me. I don't think it would hold up against a semi.
ReplyDeletePhysics does dont support the scientist claims. The heavier the object is in turn determines how much force is needed to move that object. the car may be safe but the chances of the passager suriving a crash with another car triple its size is not likely. momentum does play a roll in the situation because the more mass an object has the more force is needed to change its direction of travel
ReplyDeleteIf I happened to be in an accident, I'd want to be in any other vehicle than the smart car. Cars normally drive fast on the road and this would make the collision worse.
ReplyDeletei personally think that a smart car would be more damaged than a big SUV (in the same crash). the momentum going into the crash would affect the little smart car greatly, by smashing it because it has 'no weight' to it. saying that, i wouldnt drive one, but thats just me!
ReplyDeletePhysics doesn't support the claim. For example a truck and smart car are going down the freeway at 65mph. The truck has a bigger mass which in turn means it will have a bigger momentum. The smart car would have a small momentum, so overall the collison would more greatly affect the smart car. I agree with nerdman on this. I would not drive one either.
ReplyDeletethe momentum in a crash would greatly affect the smart car rather then a suv. even though it has a 5 star crash safety rating, there isn't enough padding or extra cusion to protect the people in the car. i personally wouldn't feel that safe in a smart car, just because i'm not a good driver and i don't want to get into a crash and possibly kill myself. but if you are a go green person, the smart car is all for you! just be a good driver
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't even matter if you are a good driver. You could be the best of drivers and still get into a crash. Road and weather conditions and other drivers can be a result of an accident. A good driver can still be easily harmed in a smart car.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments everyone. Also good information I can tell you did your research. Looking over the scientists explanations. They claimed that they had moved the car's engine to the back of the car. In this way the tires could be used as bumpers in the case of a frontal crash. Is this follow the laws of physics and momentum? Is there other parts the car that display other parts of physics. If so name some.
ReplyDeleteYes, the smart car is a good idea for the environment, but a bad idea for people. Because cars are usually going fast on the road, it would make the damage to the lighter car worse.
ReplyDeletei would think the smaller the car, the less the mass, momentum will easier be stopped. since its 730kg (1606lbs) which is pretty good considering most are above that kinda mass. for your last question: the wheels constantly display friction, when someone hits the brake the force of friction increases drastically (depending on the acceleration.)
ReplyDeleteThe way the website described their product is that the wheels were in front of the frame so they served as a barrier against the car or barrier that was colliding with the front. Think of how of how the engine is placed in the back of the smart car leaving the tires as the first line of defense in the case of a collision. Does it make sense to place a large heavy mass engine as the first line of defense in the safety of a driver? How does momentum in a collision effected by the placement of the engine and tires in a car? or would it? Please explain your comments.
ReplyDeleteA little reading material for those interested....
ReplyDeletehttp://auto.howstuffworks.com/smart-car1.htm
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/car-driving-safety/accidents-hazardous-conditions/crash-test.htm
http://www.greencar.com/articles/smart-car-offers-drivers-new-high-mpg-option-top-crash-rating.php
The first explains the frame the best.
Many people are arguing some very basic situations. Almost everything I've read boils down to this:
ReplyDelete1 semi - 1 smartcar = Lots more semi
But this is just not a practical example. Not only do head-on collisions with semis rarely happen, but when they do, almost anything will get crushed anyways. Take a Ford Focus. Do you really feel THAT much more confident taking a semi head on in a Ford Focus?
What needs to be considered is the design of the frame, as mentioned before. This goes deeper than "bigger objects crush smaller objects" due to the complexity of automobiles. The stronger frame would protect the passenger. To better understand what I'm talking about, take a more "accurate" (I use this very loosely) example. Step on a marble. Now step on an egg. Which one "wins"?
Now, the biggest concern was that the passenger would absorb all of the impact. I've been doing research and I've gotten mixed results. Also, I've been finding that the testing is also.... absurd. They've been testing the car going from 70-0 in less than a second, which is quite a circumstance. A little too far fetched for me to count for or against the smartcar.
My ending conclusion? Well, most of you would probably assume at this point that I favor the smartcar. I really don't. Sure, I don't think I would fear for my life driving one, but they look ridiculous in my honest opinion.
the example of a semi vs the smart car is just used as an illustration that uses each end of the spectrum in regards to size. Most regular sized cars, pickup trucks and SUVs would behave as a semi in a collision with a smart car. They will win the war of momentum. They will keep going forward, the smart car will be pushed backwards. This means that the bodies of the human occupants in the smart car will be hit with the full force of the collision. That force will cause internal injuries and death even if the cage of the smart car prevents crushing injuries and even if the airbags of the smart car prevent injuries. People can be killed by blast waves from bombs even if they are not visibly injured. Even if occupants of a smart car were to survive a collision, the damage to their skeletons and joints, as well as their internal organs would be severe.
DeleteThe energy of the collision will be an issue with the smart car even when it hits a stationary object such as a barrier or a wall. There is no auto body to absorb the energy of the impact by crumbling as in other cars. The design of the smart car INTENTIONALLY removes this form of protection for the purpose of fuel economy!
Gorudu93, it sounds like you do favor the smartcar. i do believe, though, that the 'bigger object crushes the smaller object' theory, at least dealing with automobiles.
ReplyDeleteI think the smart car is not very safe because it is to small, if it were to get hit by a garbage truck the momentum of the garbage truck and mass of the truck would be to much for the smart car to handle.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I forgot this, but the "Chery Amulet" is not a typo, it's just an example of Chinese understanding of trademark laws.
ReplyDeleteAnd in response to what Alphadog said about the "tires as a bumper," there was another famous car that used this same method: it was called the Ford Pinto, and after a year or so, many of the vehicles featured homemade signage to the idea of "Stay Back!!! Explosive Hazard!" Important engine parts and fuel tanks don't belong unprotected right at the rear of a vehicle. And also, alphadog, the Smart does not have a "High mass engine." It has a 1.0 L 3-cylinder. You could pick that engine up with one hand; hardly "high mass."
ReplyDeleteAnd finally, Gorudu93 was correct. It doesn't matter what vehicle you're talking about; in the "head-on with a semi" situation, the semi always wins. You could be in an armored military HMMWV (the Humvee), but if you're going, say, 70, and a semi's going 70, you're going to die. About the only vehicle that might have a chance is an M1-A1 Abrams Main Battle tank, and even that is highly debatable.
If you're interested in other dangerous cars, I did a little research and the list of the top 7 is: 1. Chevy Corvette (and other similarly powerful sports cars); 2. Ford Pinto (See earlier explanation); 3. Suzuki Samurai (High center of gravity=high rollover probability); 4. Bronco II (Same reason as Samurai); 5. Audi 5000 (Poorly engineered in Germany, but then the Chinese bought rights to build them, and completely ignored safety protocols); 6. Chevy Corvair (Poor axle and suspension design rendered potholes lethal, and head-on collisions would impale you on the steering column); and 7. Chery Amulet (Another example of why you buy Chinese cars as readily as you buy their toys; they ignore every rule in the book on safety.)But the real question is, where's the Yugo? (Also, another interesting car is the Soviet model who's name I forget that was constructed entirely of wood and fiberglass; obviously a death trap...that people were put on a 12-year waiting list to get!) Dangerous foreign cars are not a new occurrance.
The Soviet car you are referring to-do you mean the East German Trabant? It's body was made of cardboard with fiberglass resin.
DeleteAll great comments. I certainly agree with Gorudu93in that it is very unlikely for a head on collision with a semi both going at 70 mph. This is why you have highway barriers dividing the highway. The most likely collisions are going to happen in the city and on country roads or with the most prominent ditch. And yes the smart cars motor only ways so much however I was referring to a normal large mass car like a F 150 or that of your normal Toyota. The engine is there in the front of the car and is it's main line of defense for the driver. All in all I would have to say that this is a topic that is layered with much bias. There are obviously your extreme case accidents that are going to happen, but with normal car crash scenarios it is in my opinion that the smart car is in fact safe for normal road crash conditions. Would I ride in one--No, but it doesn't take away from the point at hand. Everyone has their personal opinions and no science can change that.
ReplyDeleteFor me personally id like to be in a big truck like the F-250 or an suv. I would not like to be in a smart car. Plus its foreign. Go america!!!!
ReplyDeleteWell I am going to say that I did almost bought 1 of those cars for about $4000. I was only going to buy it for the price and it had a custom paint job and it was previously owned by the keyboardest of my favorite band, Rammstein. Now I would have to say that the only thing safe about that car is the fact that because of the laws of momentum that car can be stopped and accelerated quickly. Yes, it is built like a racecar but that dosen't mean you won't be bouncing around inside the car when something smashes into you. One time I was on a crowded highway in my old truck and saw a smart car in front of me and I was nervous but more glad that I didn't buy one of those. The only way that car could have gotten a five-star crash safety rating is through bribes.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the comments this week.
ReplyDeletei tried this befor and it didnt work. the smart car is not the safest car. the car is too small ompaired to most automobiles. if the smart car were to get in the carsh with a bigger vehical the smaller car will most likely take the most damage. the force the bigger car puts on the smaller car is greater.the smart car doesnt stand a chance. the car and the driver would get SMASHED!!!!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sniper. I don't think that the smart car is as safe as other cars. The cars that are safe are twice the size of the smart car and almost twice as long. There's no way that the smart car can be as safe as a regular car. The smart car is way to small and doesn't way enough. It wouldn't be able to take the force from another car if it got in a crash.
ReplyDeleteIf that smart car got hit by a normal size car it would probably just ping off and go airborn. A mustang weighs about 1574 KG. If that mustang hit the lil 730 KG smart car the smart car would crumple. Im not convinced that the smart car can be small and safe.
ReplyDeleteThe smart car weighs half the sazi of most cars on the road. It wouldn't survive in any crash. Any person with a brain could figure out the with less mass it would travel further.
ReplyDelete