as big as a bus?

stuart · Post by **stuart** » Tue Apr 20, 2004 11:56 am

5mph, which is a nice slow walk.

sorry to knit pick but 5mph is not quite a slow walk, jogging speed actually. Gives you a 5 and quarter hour marathon time.

Silver · Post by **Silver** » Tue Apr 20, 2004 7:38 pm

First time that I have disagreed with Trey, 5MPM is moving out for walkers, somebody who knocks down 6.x mph is Olympic class.

Wear lights! I damn near ran right over two people screwing on the Playa on Thorsday night at about 3 AM, as it was I showered them with playa dust. I will admit, I admired them, didn't miss a beat and it was damned cold out there.

III · Post by **III** » Wed Apr 21, 2004 12:00 am

my bad. dunno where my brain was at.

i'll still stand by the "bigger and faster things have the responnsibility" thing, at least until they decide to do away with the dmv and go to free for all mode.

PurpleKoosh · Post by **PurpleKoosh** » Wed Apr 21, 2004 1:34 pm

III wrote:i'll still stand by the "bigger and faster things have the responnsibility" thing, at least until they decide to do away with the dmv and go to free for all mode.

My personal policy - both as a Hottie and as a professional driver in the Default Whirled - is "Anything bigger than you has the right of way" - which actually dovetails nicely with yours, from my POV.

The way I see it, it's kinda like safer sex - you BOTH need to be responsible for it, because relying on "the other guy" to take care of it is a good way to get in a LOT of trouble....

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Mon Apr 26, 2004 3:35 pm

I've been fussing for days on how to write this. Yeah, bigger does mean more responcibility. There are persons who do not live up to this responcibility (although it is dearly hoped that the new DMV rules will cut down on thier number) and even those who do live up to it might make a mistake.
In my nieve little way, I am shocked by the number of people who will race with a large truck in order to get to the other side before it passes, when the actual passage will only take 15 seconds. I even feel a little perturbed when I'm riding on an ESD call and feel that delay could mean bad things for the emergency on the other end. There gets to be an adenaline thing, and anyway the "Golden Hour" (no NOT shower--you of the dirty mind!) has a lot of legitemacy. There are "not breathing" calls on playa. Admittedly that counts for few of our runs, but it's always a possibility. (Note, I am NEVER a driver on any calls.) Even trying your best to see at night, people do seem to come out of nowhere, and it's frightening. I strongly recommend lights of some sort. Even if it's the other person's fault, you are the one dead or injured.

Sorry if I re-stated the obvious.

stuart · Post by **stuart** » Tue Apr 27, 2004 3:01 pm

Alpha · Post by **Alpha** » Tue Apr 27, 2004 9:12 pm

I think you're looking for: p=mv

Captain Goddammit · Post by **Captain Goddammit** » Tue Apr 27, 2004 10:27 pm

Damn, the only problem I have driving a large mutant at night is the usually-high-on-something fellow Burners (O.K., assholes) that run out in front of me on purpose for the thrill of it. Sometimes I really really WANT to run them over, but who knows what's in their pockets? Might get a flat.

Of course everyone knows I wouldn't actually do that...

Don't they?

shitmouse · Post by **shitmouse** » Wed Apr 28, 2004 10:20 pm

Captain Goddammit wrote:Damn, the only problem I have driving a large mutant at night is the usually-high-on-something fellow Burners (O.K., assholes) that run out in front of me on purpose for the thrill of it. Sometimes I really really WANT to run them over, but who knows what's in their pockets? Might get a flat.

Of course everyone knows I wouldn't actually do that...

Don't they?

what, get a flat?
heck no!
-b

Captain Goddammit · Post by **Captain Goddammit** » Wed Apr 28, 2004 10:51 pm

Right!

Otisserie · Post by **Otisserie** » Thu Apr 29, 2004 12:54 pm

stuart wrote:f=ma

I believe you mean force = mass * acceleration squared.

Which is why a smaller mutant vehicle crashing into the man at 30 mph will do way more damage than a big mutant at 10 mph.

Or, put another way, would you rather catch a 6 oz baseball going 60 mph or a bullet weighing 1/20th as much moving 20 times as fast?

Alpha · Post by **Alpha** » Thu Apr 29, 2004 1:11 pm

I'd rather catch the baseball, but it has nothing to do with acceleration.

The issue with art cars traveling at any speed is MOMENTUM: p = mv. An 3,000 pound art car traveling 5mph still has much more momentum than, say, a Burner on a bike. This means that when they impact, the Burner goes *bounce* instead of the art car.

Stuart's formula was correct, but only applies to objects either accelerating or decelerating. The baseball and the bullet, as you defined them, are moving at constant velocity. Both have the same momentum, 6.2 kg-m/s. The reason you don't want to catch the bullet has to do with surface area -- the force of rapid deceleration due to contact with your hand, can either be distributed over the entire palm (baseball) or about few square centimeters (bullet). The smaller surface area allows the force of the bullet to break the skin.

Sorry, that touched my physics nerve.

jaycatski · Post by **jaycatski** » Thu Apr 29, 2004 2:25 pm

my physics tutor likened it to the difference between an elephant standing on your toe to a buxom young lady walking on your back wearing a pair of stilletto heels, both would hurt, but the heels would pierce. its a surface area thing
god bless the english education system.

Otisserie · Post by **Otisserie** » Thu Apr 29, 2004 5:18 pm

Alpha wrote:I'd rather catch the baseball, but it has nothing to do with acceleration.

The issue with art cars traveling at any speed is MOMENTUM: p = mv. An 3,000 pound art car traveling 5mph still has much more momentum than, say, a Burner on a bike. This means that when they impact, the Burner goes *bounce* instead of the art car.

Stuart's formula was correct, but only applies to objects either accelerating or decelerating. The baseball and the bullet, as you defined them, are moving at constant velocity. Both have the same momentum, 6.2 kg-m/s. The reason you don't want to catch the bullet has to do with surface area -- the force of rapid deceleration due to contact with your hand, can either be distributed over the entire palm (baseball) or about few square centimeters (bullet). The smaller surface area allows the force of the bullet to break the skin.

Sorry, that touched my physics nerve.

I stand corrected. What I was thinking of was that force = mass * velocity squared. In the case of the bullet: yes, the smaller surface area is part of the problem. But a faster smaller object still has much more force than a heavier, slower object. Even with a bullet-proof vest on, a small bullet can knock you on your ass with enough speed.

stuart · Post by **stuart** » Thu Apr 29, 2004 6:07 pm

I always loved those old NHTSA videos that showed a VW beatle t-boning a school bus and knocking it many yards.

Captain Goddammit · Post by **Captain Goddammit** » Thu Apr 29, 2004 9:41 pm

Well I know that an abandoned bicycle out on the playa gets pretty wrinkley when a big-ass cabin-cruiser artboat comes along and feels a bit of a bump.
But the way I figure (make excuses for) it, my camp is a bike repair camp... I fix 50 bikes, flatten 1 - I'm still up on karma, right?

as big as a bus?

Pedantic

physics CAN be fun.