"when your car is struck in an ice rut, the principles of resonance could be used to help you out. explain how a few well-timed pushes could move a heavy car" can anyone answer this?
by 
Anonymous
ANSWERS: 2
-
It's really not resonance, it's the momentum that can help the car get off the ice.
-
The springs in your car, together with its mass, form a resonant system that will resonate (bounce up and down) at a fixed frequency called the natural frequency. (Make a model by hanging a key from a rubberband.) The amplitude of the bounces can be increased by adding energy to the system in synch with the resonant frequency, kind of like giving pushes to a kid on a swing just at the start of each forward swing. The car has shock absorbers, which provide some damping to control bouncing, but the system still has a resonant frequency. So if you push DOWNWARD over the stuck wheel, the car will rebound upward and then settle back down. If you repeatedly push downward at the start of each downstroke, letting each rebound occur naturally, you will "excite" the resonant frequency by adding energy to the system. With luck you will achieve a high enough amplitude (the wheel rebounding upward so vigorously) that it frees itself from its predicament and possibly becomes briefly airborn!
RELATED QUESTIONS
Copyright 2023, Wired Ivy, LLC