Blogs

Emma Hersh's Blogs:

1) On the R8 every morning there is a man who gets on at the last stop and stands. He doesn't carry a bag and he won't sit even if there is a seat open. Not only does this man stand but he also sleeps standing up. A few days ago I observed his movement in relation to the trains movement and was impressed to see that he never opened his eyes nor did he ever fall. This posed the questions how does he not fall and how does he know the movement of the train in relation to his own to not fall.  Some observations were: when the train positively accelerates the man tilts forward first and then backward to counteract the energy and stay comfortably standing. When the train slowly negatively accelerates the man doesn't make any standoutish movements because the change from moving quickly to moving slowly is so subtle. On the same note, when the train is slowly turning the man doesn't have to shift his body weight as quickly. I also observed that on large turns the train tilts downward so the passengers cannot feel the turn as much. However when the train quickly makes a positive acceleration the man jerks backwards, that is the only time he ever looks as though he might fall.  I also asked the ticket man how he doesn't fall because they're always walking effortlessly on the trains. What he said was this: they have a training for the ticket people so they know what to do when a train makes a certain sound. For example when it is about to slow down the brake releases air, when it is about to speed up there is a signal and they get buzzed. He also said that you get used to the motion so after a while you just know where and how to move so you can walk comfortably through the isle without falling on someone.

2) On regional rail trains it is difficult to feel the motion of the train unless you're standing up. When you're standing up you can move all over the place and that gives you a better sense of the motion. When I interviewed people about why they thought the train moved like it did, most said they had no idea. They had never taken a physics class before and were impressed that I was taking physics. When I asked patrons that looked closer to my age they said, "something about force, maybe?" Because they were currently enrolled in a science class, the information was fresh in their minds.

Once I explained to the people who didn't know what forces were acting on them on the train, and about acceleration and gravity they said it made sense. So now if future classes happen to find those people, they'll know.

3) I learned about unbalanced forces and how they effect the way we move in vehicles when they accelerate either negatively or positively. Most people didn't know what to pay attention to when interviewed, most of them also didn't take physics so they just said "I don't know" to every question I asked. They never really thought about what I was asking so the whole thing was a bit confusing for them.  We will create a blog and put on the different parts of ours in separate pages then what we did collaboratively on a different page. This will include videos and the type of forces acting in the videos.

TJ Nicolella's Blogs:

1)  As I was making observations on the Septa bus in the morning and on the way home from school I was noticing that people would often be thrown throughout the bus when it would suddenly start or stop after picking up or letting a person off or stopping at a red light/ starting to move at a green light. With these observations I have to ask the question: Does Septa design their machines so that it is easier to stand when the bus is moving, and if not can something be done to reduce the amount of falling/sliding on the buses. I thought of this question when watching people stumble and I noticed that the floors of the Septa buses are some sort of material with a grip on it, like rubber or something but when it is raining and the material gets wet, people slip when they attempt to get on the bus and when they are walking to their seats so a better flooring material could definitely be used but that may be too expensive for them to employ. I am not sure if the bus has anything aerodynamically altered about it to keep riders from falling other than being a tube shape, with all chairs to either side of the cabin and metal bars as well. There are also black ropes to hold onto that move along with the users hand as it moves, helping them stay balanced and making it so one can move their legs and turn around and to the side as you are holding onto them to let another passenger by or off the bus. Another big problem on the Septa buses occurs when large bumps or pot holes are hit by the bus and send people who are standing in the back of the bus flying. This is somewhat solved by having the back wheels of the bus even more towards the back than a regular school bus and they seemed to have crammed even more seats in the back, encouraging more people to sit when they are back there.

2) Questions Asked:   Q1) What do you think SEPTA does to keep passengers on their feet when turns and stops are made (as well as starts)? Q2) Is there anything SEPTA can do to their buses to prevent passengers from falling?   Answers (Shortened): Q1) "SEPTA includes small ropes on the rails for passengers to hold on to." <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"The floors have grooves in them." <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Bars connected to seats to hold onto." <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Q2) "Not sure..." <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"They’re doing all they can" <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"What else can they do?" <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many people seemed confused when I asked them questions even though they were relatively simple questions. I could not find any other way of simplifying these questions and out of nine passengers questioned, none of them could go in depth with the topic or questions I asked them. 3) With Newtons laws of motion, I can really only compare this project and my observations to his third law of motion, “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” This is because: when I am on the bus I notice that every time the bus turns left, the passengers swing to the right, more so if they are standing when compared to sitting passengers. That observation alone proves Newton’s third law of motion. I have agreed with this law of motion since I have heard about it and this project confirms that indefinitely. <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was also looking at Newton’s first law of motion, “Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it.” and saw that this could apply to passengers on a SEPTA bus that are standing and possibly not holding onto any hand rails or ropes. As we were showed in class, with the Wall-E movie; when he is in the spaceship and it is accelerating faster than he is (Wall-E is moving at uniform motion) he is propelled into the back of the pod/ship until it reaches “cruising speed” and gravity allows him to drop from the side of the pod because both objects (the pod and Wall-E) are moving at uniform motion. The same scenario could happen with a standing passenger on the bus but on much less of a scale because the SEPTA bus is obviously going slower that a space ship but the effects would subtly be there nonetheless causing the passenger to jerk back some distance based on how sudden the bus accelerates and if the passenger is holding onto anything. Obviously if the rider is not holding onto anything they could effectively be jerked to the very back of the bus if there is no other interference with the falling bus rider. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #f91010; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0pt 0px; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">**Amber Altomare:**

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0pt 0px; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1) While taking the 9 bus in the morning, an observation was made that if my book bag was sitting strap side to the back on the seat then it would not fall over when the bus negatively accelerated. If the straps are facing the front of the bus, it will fall over when the bus slows. If I allowed it to happen and the bus negatively accelerated enough, the bag could fall to the front of the bus until it was stopped by the front wall. I think the bag doesn't fall when the straps are facing the back of the bus because the books in it are placed so that the biggest item is leaning on that side which would make it lean accordingly. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0pt 0px; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2) When I take the 27, it makes a circular right turn onto the expressway. While this right turn is taking place, every person on the bus either leans into the wall or tries to hold themselves up so they do not fall into the person next to them or onto the floor. It is a strain for to hold up for this turn because the bus is moving at such a fast rate while turning, if a person was asleep for this they would most likely fall over. The force that they apply into their bodies to hold up counteracts the movement of the bus which acts as the other force. With these two forces being applied, you are able to stay upright.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0pt 0px; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blog #1
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff0000; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0pt 0px; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Daniel Mambu: **

Is it better to put your hands on the roof or to hold the poles when in a trolley? What came to this observation was when watching a crowed trolley a few people seemed to look more stable with their hands on the top the trolley then with their hands holding the pole. I think the reason for this was the fact that you are more upright with your hands up on the roof then with your hands holding the poles. When in a crowded you tend to want to be more stable with out wanting to hit nobody. Truthfully

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0pt 0px; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blog #2 Interview with a SEPTA passenger

Me: How often do you take SEPTA? Tom: Usually about once or twice every other week. Septa's slogan is "we're getting there" this is an awful slogan. They should keep that a secret. Septa needs to BE THERE.

Me: What form of transportation do you usually take? Tom: I take the regional rail an awful lot, and then I take the surface/subway trolleys to connect from there.

Me: What are some things you have observed involving movement and and objects while riding the regional rail or the trolleys? Tom: Generally things outside move slowly, or not at all, depending on how well septa is feeling that day. Inside the train, OBJECTS are rather stable, unless someone has strewn waste about, but that is rare. Usually the inside is fairly free of debris, the people move quite a bit though. Once I was stuck on a train dead without electricity in the middle of a track for FOUR HOURS between stops before they figured out how to get going again. They couldn't let us off, because we were in between stations. If you sit in the right car on the regional rail, you can face backwards from the direction you are traveling, then things go pretty fast in reverse.

Me: What do you notice or observe about the movement of objects based on the acceleration and deceleration of the trains buses or trolleys? Tom: When the train is accelerating things outside move faster...when it's decelerating things move slower. When the train is stuck things don't go anywhere. Inside, when the train accelerates, there is a slight push backwards into the seats, when the train decelerates there is a significant jarring forward. When the train is stopped everything inside is still.

Me: Does the same thing happen to objects on the trolley? Tom: Pretty much. Slowing down means jarring forward inside, speeding up presses into the seats. Outside: Slowing down things are less blurry. Speeding up, things are more blurry. Stopped, everything looks still.

Me: What do you think causes this? Tom: Physics. When accelerating, the push backwards is because the objects inside the train aren't moving as fast as the outside, and we're being made to catch up. When the train stops or decelerates we move forward because the outside train is now moving slower than everything inside it, and we are being made to slow down as well.

Me: Have you been in a really packed train, trolley or bus which you had to stand? Tom: Yes. I find standing sideways most effective, then you can deal with the push backwards and push forwards more sturdily. (You have a leg to catch you either way). If you stand facing front or back, all you have to catch you are your face/bum if you are standing and holding on one of those dangly thingies, you do an awkward lean forward when decelerating and a lean backward when accelerating.

Me: How about when holding the pole in the train, trolleys or buses? Tom: If you're holding a pole, you tend to be a bit more sturdy (depending on your grip and position) but there's still a swinging (round the pole) or pushing into the pole toward the front on deceleration, and a holding on at arm's length and leaning back or slide around toward the back of the pole when accelerating. I have also been on a train so crowded that there was nothing to grab on to, and I had to just stand free-form...this is where I developed the standing sideways technique to avoid collapsing on top of the people around me. You have to keep your knees bent. Sitting in a chair, is the most sturdy, and the acceleration effects are least noticeable...although the lurch forward from deceleration is still quite pronounced.

Me: Did you every try pushing your the palms of your hands against the roof of the trolley? Tom: I am not that tall. It might work if I was standing way too close to someone sitting down where the ceilings are lower. But, no.

Me: Tom, you are tall enough to push against the roof of the trolley. Tom: Huh...perhaps I am. I never really thought about it. But I imagine if I did, there would be a bowing of my pelvis forward at deceleration and a bend at the hips from acceleration. That, however is speculative, as I've never done it.

Me: Well I've done it any I find it better then holding the pole, how or why do you think it would be better then holding the poles or do you think it would be better? Tom: I don't know. Like I said, I've never done it... I think the best is the seat. But the pole is slippery, and it lends itself to converting the motion forward or backward into weird and different angles (swinging around the pole) so, although more sturdy than the swingy roof things, it would probably be easier to stand with your palms on the roof.

Me: Why do you think it would be easier? Tom: Because the movement in the hips that would occur with your palms on the roof is easier to deal with than the movement sliding around on the pole. You have to adjust yourself more if you hold onto the pole.

Me: Do you know about friction? Tom: I know about it, yes. It's the "stickiness" of gravity and texture between masses.

Me: Do you think that friction has anything to do with this? Tom: Friction is what makes you able to deal with the fact that you aren't moving the same speed as the outside of the train (it's what does the work of "catching you up" I was talking about before). The more friction you have holding you in place (like in a seat) the more you are going to be moving the same speed as the train/trolley.

Me: Well don't you think as you hold or push against the roof of the trolley your leveling or creating the same type of friction as your feet and the earth when your hands are up against the roof? Tom: Yes. But the friction is from the force of you pushing out, instead of gravity pushing down. And it is perhaps not as great in intensity, depending on how hard you push out and the texture properties of what you are pushing out on.

Me: Do you know what happens when septa turns? Tom: If Septa turns right, internal motion tends to the left ....and vice-versa internal motion always tends toward the opposite direction of the external motion because we are not physically part of the vehicle and we have to compensate through friction and gravitational balancing. .....wait, I might have that backwards on the turning. (having trouble visualizing a turn in my head) no, that's right. I think.

Me: You seem to know a lot about physics, when did you learn about it? Tom: highschool. so, it's been a long time.

Me: What high school did you go to? Tom: I went to Carlisle High School in Carlisle PA