What are Natural Laws?

Natural laws are always at work. Some of these laws are inertia, friction, momentum, kinetic energy, and gravity.

• Inertia

Inertia causes your books on the backseat to continue moving forward even after you brake. Two aspects govern inertia. One is that objects at rest remain at rest unless some force acts on them. The other is objects in motion remain in motion and continue to move in a straight line.

All things have inertia. One way to overcome inertia is to wear your safety belt. These belts provide a force that acts against inertia. Another way to manage risk is to be sure to secure all loose objects. 

• Friction

Friction is a force between two surfaces that resist the movement of one surface across the other. Friction tries to make the surface of your tires stick to the surface of the road. Your car has to overcome friction in order to move. Your car stays on the road because a certain amount of friction is always present. Friction between the road and your tires is called traction which means “sticking together.” Traction holds your car on the road. Here are some factors affecting traction.

• Tire Pressure

Tires are made with grooved surface treads that grip the road. For best traction, inflate tires to the pressure recommended by the manufacturer. Properly inflated tires grip the road evenly. If you under inflate your tires only the outer edges grip the road. If you overinflate your tires only the centers tend to contact the road. 

• Tire Condition

Bald tires are tires with very little or no tread which provide almost no traction on wet, icy, or snow-covered roads. Even on dry roads, bald tires reduce directional control and are more apt to get punctured. 

• Rain

When the road is wet, water gets between the surface of the road and the tires. Water provides a smooth surface for the tires to move across, and a smooth surface does not provide good traction. If tires are properly inflated and have good tread, much of the water will go into the grooves between the treads. This means that the treads themselves will come in contact with less water and more road surface. 

• Ice and Snow

Ice and snow can reduce traction more than rain and is poorest when it is 32 degrees, when snow and ice start to become a slippery, watery slush.  Snow tires help to increase traction in snow but not necessarily on ice. Chains are helpful in increasing traction on ice and in states where they are allowed studded tires can help increase traction. All weather tires are a good choice for most drivers.

• Road Condition

Rough Roads and potholes make your car bounce up and down, reducing traction. Wet leaves on the road reduce friction causing the wheels to lose traction and slide. 

Momentum

Momentum is the product of weight and speed, all objects have momentum. The greater the momentum of the vehicles, the greater the damage in a collision. A vehicle’s momentum depends on weight and its speed. If either the weight or the speed doubles, so does the vehicle’s momentum double. If the weight or the speed triples, so does the vehicle’s momentum triple. 

Kinetic Energy

All objects in motion have kinetic energy as well as momentum. Kinetic energy is the energy of motion. The faster a car moves, the more energy of motion it has and the more time and distance it will take to stop the car.

Here is what kinetic energy and momentum can mean when you are accelerating or braking. 

• Acceleration

Press down on the accelerator to compensate for the extra weight and wait for a larger gap in traffic before entering the roadway.

• Braking

Once your car’s weight and speed have increased, the car’s stopping distance has also increased. Reduce your risk by leaving a greater distance between your car and the one in front of you. 

Gravity

Gravity is a force that pulls all objects toward the center of the Earth because gravity affects all objects it can make a car speed up or slow down. To maintain your speed, accelerate just before the car begins to climb the hill. When you drive downhill gravity acts with your car so your speed increases. To keep the car from moving too fast, ease up on the accelerator, you may have to use your brakes or downshift.