Kinematics
First Day on the Job
   
       
    Date : November 2007
Author : Nathaniel Lasry
College : John Abbott College
Length : 2 hours
Related concept(s) : Kinematics 1-D
    Students are placed in the shoes of an insurance investigator who, on the first day on the job, is asked to determine whether a collision that occurred was due to the insured driver's negligence. To establish negligence, students must eliminate certain possibilities. Students must identify that the initial speed on impact is the determining variable that will prove in favour or against negligence. Knowing the acceleration on impact (from a doctor's evaluation of seat belt lacerations) and the displacement (determined from a crumple zone measurement), students construct a case for or against negligent driving.