Driving a car onto a semi while both are in motion

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the scenario of a car driving onto a moving semi-truck's ramp, specifically examining the dynamics of speed and acceleration as both vehicles are in motion. Participants explore various outcomes based on the actions of the car's driver and the physics involved in the transition from the road to the ramp.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation
  • Exploratory

Main Points Raised

  • Rexmaster poses a scenario where a car accelerates to 60 MPH while a semi-truck travels at 55 MPH, questioning the resulting speed of the car once it drives onto the trailer.
  • Some participants suggest that the car would move at 5 MPH relative to the truck while maintaining a speed of 115 MPH relative to the ground, but this is challenged as contradictory.
  • One participant notes that the driver's throttle control significantly affects the car's behavior on the ramp, indicating that if the driver does not lift off the throttle, the car could accelerate relative to the truck.
  • Another participant mentions that if the driver lifts off completely, the car may not have enough speed to ascend the ramp effectively.
  • There is a discussion about the potential for the car's engine to stall if the driver does not manage the throttle appropriately while transitioning onto the ramp.
  • Some participants reference the Mythbusters experiment, suggesting that the wheels of the car will quickly match the speed of the ramp, affecting acceleration dynamics.
  • There is a mention of how different vehicles, like motorcycles, may experience different dynamics when hitting a ramp, which could influence the discussion on the car's behavior.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the outcome of the scenario, particularly regarding the effects of throttle control and the resulting speeds. There is no consensus on the exact dynamics at play, and multiple competing interpretations remain present.

Contextual Notes

The discussion highlights the importance of driver input and vehicle dynamics, but lacks specific experimental data to fully resolve the claims made. Assumptions about the car's speed and behavior on the ramp are not uniformly agreed upon.

Rexmaster
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A debate I have long had with my father-in-law. Can someone please set the record straight on what would happen given the following scenario:

Semi truck traveling at 55 MPH with a ramp down on the trailer. A car accelerates to 60 MPH and drives up the ramp and into the back of the trailer.

a) Does the car move across the trailer surface at 60 MPH and thus zooming to the front once in contact.

b) The car continues gaining on the front of the trailer at 5 MPH, thus pulling in slowly.

c) Something else entirely.


Thanks!
Rex
 
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Welcome to PF, Rexmaster.
Answer "b" is close, but not exact. Mythbusters performed the test a couple of years ago. Exiting the truck was equally painless.
 
 
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Without any experiments I would say that the car will move at 55+60=115MPH, relative to the ground, and at 5MPH relative to the truck. Is that right?
 
magicacid said:
Without any experiments I would say that the car will move at 55+60=115MPH, relative to the ground, and at 5MPH relative to the truck. Is that right?

That is self-contradictory. If the car is moving at 5mph wrt the truck, how can it be moving at 115mph wrt the ground, if the truck is only moving at 55mph?

Keep analyzing.
 
Much is going to depend on what the driver of the car does with the throttle as the car drives up onto the ramp.

If the driver doesn't lift off as the driving wheels leave the road for the ramp, then the engine will start accelerating the car relative to the truck. This will lead to the car ramming the cab of the truck from behind. If the truck's bed were long enough (several hundred feet) the car could accelerate from 5 mph to 60 mph on the bed of the truck, for a combined speed of 115 mph relative to the ground, before it smashed into the cab at 60 mph.

If the driver lifts off completely, the car will be coasting at 5 mph relative to the ramp. That might not be enough to get it to roll all the way up the ramp.
 
Nugatory said:
Much is going to depend on what the driver of the car does with the throttle as the car drives up onto the ramp.

If the driver doesn't lift off as the driving wheels leave the road for the ramp, then the engine will start accelerating the car relative to the truck. This will lead to the car ramming the cab of the truck from behind.
Actually, what will happen is the engine will stall.

What Mythbusters showed is that the wheels of a car have very little angular momentum. The moment they are on ramp, they immediately slow to match the speed of the surface underneath them. So there's no lurch forward from that.

But you're talking about something different. You're talking about keeping the engine at high enough revs that it should immediately accelerate as-if-from-rest. Except that the wheels are virtually stopped while the engine is revving high. If you're ever been in a car when it comes to a very abrupt halt, most often what happens is the engine just stalls.
 
Nugatory said:
Much is going to depend on what the driver of the car does with the throttle as the car drives up onto the ramp.

If the driver doesn't lift off as the driving wheels leave the road for the ramp, then the engine will start accelerating the car relative to the truck. This will lead to the car ramming the cab of the truck from behind. If the truck's bed were long enough (several hundred feet) the car could accelerate from 5 mph to 60 mph on the bed of the truck, for a combined speed of 115 mph relative to the ground, before it smashed into the cab at 60 mph.

If the driver lifts off completely, the car will be coasting at 5 mph relative to the ramp. That might not be enough to get it to roll all the way up the ramp.

Yes, on a motorcycle for instance, the effect is noticed more. When the front wheel hits the ramp it is like applying the front brake. Once the rear wheel hits the motorcycle starts to accelerate.
 
DaveC426913 said:
Actually, what will happen is the engine will stall.

With a stick-shift, feathering the clutch... It won't stall, that's what the clutch does. On the other hand the throttle setting that maintains a 60 mph cruise on the highway as we approach the ramp isn't going to be enough to accelerate us up the ramp... So I still believe that the original question was incompletely specified and the result will depend on what the driver does with the throttle (and clutch, which I should have mentioned as well).
 

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