Car Design and Safety

Question	Answer
What do brakes do to slow down the car?	Work against the kinetic energy of the car
What do new regenerative braking systems do?	Instead of converting the kinetic energy into heat energy, they put the vehicles motor in reverse, which means the wheels are slowed. At the same time, the motor acts as an electric generator, converting the kinetic energy into electrical energy which is stored
How do regenerative brakes work?	They use the system that drives the vehicle to do the majority of the braking
Why is a car crash dangerous for people on the inside?	A lot of kinetic energy is being transferred in a short amount of time
How do airbags in cars make people more safe in a crash?	They slow you down more gradually, but also prevent hitting your body on something hard
What two factors determine how powerful a car is?	The size and design of a cars engine
Why do aerodynamic cars have a higher top speed?	Cars reach their top speed when resistance force equals the driving force outputted from the engine. So, with less air resistance to over come, the car can reach of a higher speed before this happens

Resource summary

	Created by Adam Collinge about 10 years ago