The Egg Drop: Using Newton's Laws

The Egg Drop
Introduction:
Creating a capsule to protect an egg from a 16 foot drop draws many similarities to how automobile manufacturers design their cars. Manufacturers take many things into account when they go through the creative process. In particular, they need to utilize Newton’s second law to minimize the force that acts upon the passengers. However, during a crash, Newton’s third law says that when a body exerts a force on another body, the second body experiences an oppositely directed force of equal magnitude. This means that when a van is driving down the street, and a pickup truck slams into the side of it, the van would experience a force in the opposite direction. Due to the difference in mass, the truck's acceleration would
Car manufacturers invest millions into keeping their vehicles safe for those that use them, and for those that may be in collisions with them. They create a crumple zone at the front of the car, install airbags within the car's’ interior, and install seatbelts, actively campaigning about their use and benefits of using them. Newton’s Laws can very elegantly describe the forces at play here, and why they work to save thousands of lives every year. Firstly, the crumple zone allows for the collision to take a longer time to occur. This means that the acceleration will be a smaller number, as the passengers have a longer period of time to reach a velocity of zero. Newton’s first law states that an object will continue to move at a constant velocity unless acted upon by another force. This means that in order for the passenger to stop moving, he/she must be acted upon by a force. This force can be attributed to the seatbelt, but also the crumple zone will allow for this impact to do less damage to the interior. Also, when the acceleration of the passenger decreases, because of the increase in time, the force of the impact would also decrease in accordance, because of Newton’s second law. Lastly, Newton’s third law states that, when one body exerts a force upon another body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force of equal magnitude and opposite direction on the first body.
This means that it too decreases acceleration, in turn making the impact less dangerous. This uses Newton’s second law, that when the acceleration of the object decreases, so too does the force. The airbags are also useful to stop pieces of the interior from fragmenting and becoming dangerous projectiles that could damage the passengers. To conclude, airbags are incredibly important to stop the passengers from having a fatally high acceleration, as well as stops passengers from being impaled on sharp