 |
 |
Moving vs Stationary Force
Name: Kiran
Status: other
Age: 20s
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: 2000-2001
Question:
Hi,
Does a moving body exert lesser weight on the ground ,than
what it would have exerted when it was stationary?
In other words does the weight of a moving body appear to be
lesser than what it is when stationary?
EX: A wooden plank accross two walls would bear the weight
a 40kg Bicycle if it moves accross that wooden plank
very fast.But if the bicycle stands stationary on the
plank,The plank breaks.. why is this?
PLANK
---------------------------
| |
| |
| |
(Hypothetically if there is a long weighing scale
spanning for 10 miles,and a 1000 pound car is moving on the
scale at 150 miles per hour, does the scale read lesser weight?
--assuming that the weighing scale has no errors/limitations.)
Replies:
There is no reason for the moving bicycle to exert more force down on the
plank when it is still compared to when it is moving (as long as it is not
at the top of a curving trajectory).
More likely, the reason the plank does not break under the moving bike is a
matter of time. The plank under the still bike probably does not break
instantly; it will take a few seconds for it to bow to the breaking point,
when the wood fibers separate from each other and break. If the bike is
moving fast enough, it will not be applying the force to the center of the
plank long enough for this to happen.
So on to your second question about the car on a scale: If the weighing pan
of the scale really is ten miles long, it should weigh the moving car
correctly. If the pan of the scale were a more reasonable length, it would
depend on how the scale works. If it measures weights by compression of a
spring or countering a reference weight, the car would have to be on the pan
long enough for the springs to compress or for the weights to move to their
equilibrium displacements.
Richard E. Barrans Jr., Ph.D.
Assistant Director
PG Research Foundation, Darien, Illinois
Assuming speeds much less than the speed of light, i.e. no relativistic
effects the MASS of a body moving at constant speed is fixed. It is WEIGHT,
which is the force exerted by gravity is the [mass * acceleration of
gravity] which in the example you give is also essentially constant. The
reason a speeding car might make it across the plank whereas a stopped car
will not is caused by the fact that mechanical failure is often time
dependent. That is it takes time for the structure to fail. So within limits
the speeding car may beat the failure whereas a slow or stopped car will
not.
Vince Calder
Ignoring the effects of lift (such as for an airplane) a moving object
weighs the same as a stationary object. The plank breaks when the cyclist
is stationary on it because it first has to deform to the breaking point and
then it breaks. If you move across it very fast it doesn't have time to
deform that far.
Greg Bradburn
Click here to return to the Physics Archives
| |
Update: June 2012
|
|
