How Many g's Can You Handle?
http://firefox.org/news/articles/1434/1/How-Many-g039s-Can-You-Handle/Page1.html
barbara mountjoy
I’ve been writing since I can remember, everything from romance to science fiction. I’ve had some moderate success, but keep the ultimate goal to have novels in print. Meantime, I’ve got my day job as a family law attorney, my night job as parent to three children with special needs, and I write when I can. Find out more at http://awalkabout.wordpress.com
By barbara mountjoy
Published on 04/26/2008
Do your passengers complain that you drive too fast? Are their hands questing for the handle or the armrest whenever you take a corner? Do you think you drive just fine? Prove them wrong with this personal g-Force meter you can build at home....
"But I really wasn't going that fast, Officer!"
Do your passengers complain that you drive too fast? Are their hands questing for the handle or the armrest whenever you take a corner? Do you think you drive just fine? Prove them wrong with this personal g-Force meter you can build at home.
Granted, we don't normally think of g-Force as something that applies to your basic on-street driving; it's usually considered in terms of aircraft and rockets, where the person traveling feels heavier because of the forces of acceleration and gravity pushing on them in combination.
Wikipedia describes the g as "a non-SI unit equal to the nominal acceleration due to gravity on Earth at sea level, defined as 9.80665 m/s2 (32.174 ft/s2). More precisely, g-force measures the net effect of the acceleration that an object actually experiences and the acceleration that gravity is trying to impart to it."
But g-force is used regarding automobiles in the study of collision analysis and cornering, so this new device becomes relevant to prove that even if all four tires stay on the ground, you can still push the limits.
Chris at Pyroelectro.com has created a bunch of fascinating projects people can make at home with step by step directions, tutorials and more, including this week's personal g-Force meter. He acknowledges this is a project of medium difficulty, including schematics, detailed parts lists with pictures of each, and step-by-step visually-pictured directions to walk you through construction, including coding for your software.
When you're finished, you have a spiffy meter with LED display to attach to your dashboard with a couple of suction cups, and the right to laugh in people's faces when they're convinced they're taking a lethal dose of g's. "Ha! 17 g's no way! It was only 14! So there!" Priceless.
Granted, we don't normally think of g-Force as something that applies to your basic on-street driving; it's usually considered in terms of aircraft and rockets, where the person traveling feels heavier because of the forces of acceleration and gravity pushing on them in combination.
Wikipedia describes the g as "a non-SI unit equal to the nominal acceleration due to gravity on Earth at sea level, defined as 9.80665 m/s2 (32.174 ft/s2). More precisely, g-force measures the net effect of the acceleration that an object actually experiences and the acceleration that gravity is trying to impart to it."
But g-force is used regarding automobiles in the study of collision analysis and cornering, so this new device becomes relevant to prove that even if all four tires stay on the ground, you can still push the limits.
Chris at Pyroelectro.com has created a bunch of fascinating projects people can make at home with step by step directions, tutorials and more, including this week's personal g-Force meter. He acknowledges this is a project of medium difficulty, including schematics, detailed parts lists with pictures of each, and step-by-step visually-pictured directions to walk you through construction, including coding for your software.
When you're finished, you have a spiffy meter with LED display to attach to your dashboard with a couple of suction cups, and the right to laugh in people's faces when they're convinced they're taking a lethal dose of g's. "Ha! 17 g's no way! It was only 14! So there!" Priceless.