Contents
Key Stage 2
Meaning
A car is something with 4 wheels and an engine that people can drive from one place to another.
About Cars
- Cars can move faster than humans can run.
- A car has a speedometer which measures the speed of the car.
Key Stage 3
Meaning
A car is a 4 wheeled vehicle used to transport people between two locations.
About Cars
- Cars get their energy from the combustion of a fuel or from a battery. Both of which are stores of chemical potential energy.
Energy Transfers
Accelerating
- When a car accelerates energy is transferred usefully from the chemical potential energy store of the fuel/battery to the kinetic energy store of the car. However, energy is wasted when it is transferred from the chemical potential energy store of the fuel to the thermal energy store of the engine.
Decelerating
- When a car decelerates energy is transferred from the kinetic energy store of the car to the thermal energy store of the brakes.
Forces
Accelerating
- When a car accelerates the engine provides a driving force causing a mechanical energy transfer.
Decelerating
- When a car decelerates the brakes provide a force causing a mechanical energy transfer.
References
AQA
- Cars, pages 148-149, 154-157, GCSE Physics; Third Edition, Oxford University Press, AQA
- Cars, pages 202-203, GCSE Chemistry; Third Edition, Oxford University Press, AQA
- Cars; energy transfers, page 81, GCSE Physics, Hodder, AQA
- Cars; safety features, page 168, GCSE Physics, Hodder, AQA