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This is essentially a very expensive advertisement for Qatar Airlines. But look for the white writing on the screen (and take notes) as they put their most modern aircraft, the #Airbus A350 and #Boeing 787 Dreamliner, up against one of the fastest, most modern cars in the world, the ABB FIA Formula E Spark SRT-01E. Filmed at Hamad International Airport, they closed a runway and pitted Formula E car and renowned racing driver Jerome D’Ambrosio in a man-and-machine race like no other. Matched up against an Airbus A350 taking off, can the Formula E car keep the lead before the plane leaves the ground? And then on the return leg, how did the Formula E car fare against a landing Boeing 787 Dreamliner? Can a car outrun two planes? Start your engine, ready, set, GO! Watch now and find out.

In this, THE FIRST EPISODE of Crash Course Physics, your host Dr. Shini Somara introduces us to the ideas of motion in a straight line. She talks about displacement, acceleration, time, velocity, and the definition of acceleration. Also, how does a physicist discuss speed as opposed to a police officer? And did you deserve that ticket? You can figure it all out with the help of Physics!

Assignment

Looking at the following:

  • Efficiency of current internal combustion engines in modern cars
  • Compare this to car engines developed over the last 40 years
  • The quantity of fuel that passenger planes use, trying to determine the amount of fuel per person used when flying to different countries
  • Levels of CO2 per km produced for planes vs car
  • Compare cost of travel, fuel usage and production of CO2 per km for planes and cars, and compare the two.

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