Monday, April 13th: Train Problem

Let's put it all together!

We've learned about different forms of energy: kinetic & potential.

Click here to review the different forms of energy

We've learned about the different kinds of forces. 

Click here to review our class notes on the different forces

We've learned about Newton's 3 laws of motion.

Click here to review Newton's 3 laws

_______________________________________

Now, Imagine This Situation:

A train is traveling along at 65 miles per hour.  Suddenly it needs to break.  As the breaks are applied, sparks fly off the train’s wheels.

The table below describes some properties of the train and the surrounding area before and after the brakes are applied:

Before Brakes Are Applied	After Brakes Are Applied
No sparks	Sparks fly off the wheels and brake pads
Brake pads make no sound	Brake pads make sound
Brake pads are cold	Brake pads are hot
Wheels are warm	Wheels are hot
Rails are warm	Rails are warmer
Train is moving fast	Train is moving slow

Directions:

Use the word bank at the bottom of each sentence to fill in the blanks of this paragraph that explains what happened.  You can print a handout of these problems here.  Or, just write the letters A-K with your answers.  Send Ms. Dolan a picture to adolan@hccs481.org or ms.dolans_science

When the engineer applied the brakes, kinetic energy was transferred from the (a)___________ to the (b)____________.  

Air

Brakes

Ground

Rails

Wheels

When the brakes were applied, energy was transformed from (c)______________ energy to (d)_____________ energy.  

Gravitational

Electrical

Mechanical Motion

Nuclear

Thermal

We know this energy transformation happened because the wheels moved (e)___________ and both the rails and wheels got (f)___________.   

Colder

Faster

Hotter

Slower

The force that stopped the train was (g)___________. 

Normal

Centripetal

Friction

Gravity

Because of Newton’s (h) _____ law, it would have taken a lot less force to stop the train if it had been moving slower.  Also, a (i)__________ train would have been easier to stop. 

First

Second

Third

Bigger

Smaller

Because of Newton’s (j) _____ law, once the train was moving it “wanted” to just keep on moving.  

First

Second

Third

Because of Newton’s (k) _____ law, we know that the rails push up on the train with the same amount of force as gravity pulling down on the train.

First

Second

Third