Geology+-+Engineering

=A Taste of Geoscience: Rocks + Roads= ====Mr Beaton’s Geology students are getting a taste of Geological Engineering as they untangle the geometry of circles and triangles, ====

Geological engineering connects geology to human problems relating to earth and earth systems.
====It seems there is more to a road that meets the driver’s eye and these students will discover on their field trip that the Lee Stream Road ==== ====with all its curves and bends hides an engineering jigsaw they never realised before. First they had to untangle a bit of maths, learn how ====

to measure curves and understand how force affects moving trucks...

 * [[image:P1300262.JPG]]

**What a coincidence!** The Otago Daily Times, 24 May 2012 (the day of these experiments); had a photo on the front page of a truck that had left the road on a bend near Waikouaiti.
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These are called **tracking curves**.
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We also discovered different methods of measuring angles - degrees, minutes, and seconds; radians; and grads/mils.
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 * [[image:P1300263.JPG width="279" height="387" align="center"]]

A pencil tied on the end of a string illustrates the forces felt by a truck when it goes around a bend in the road...
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**Centripetal force**, the force pulling the weight towards centre.
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tipping over and keep it stable in the waves.
|| ==== **The stability of the boat** can be changed by placing weights in the keel versus placing stones in the cargo holds. The need for freeboard, i.e. limiting the cargo, can stops the waves from flooding the deck and holds. ====
 * [[image:P1300264.JPG align="center"]]

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**Tipping and Balance...**
====We demonstrated the effects of assymetrical loading on the stability of the boat. On a truck, if a load shifts (like liquid or stock), the load becomes unbalanced and the truck becomes unstable and may roll.==== ||

We discussed the ways motor vehicles behave on corners. A car, with a low centre of gravity, would tend to slide. A loaded truck, however, with a higher centre of gravity would tend to roll.
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 * [[image:P1300258.JPG]]

The students are using a three-axle LEGO truck to map out a tracking curve.
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This truck is close to 1/20th scale so the width required for the toy to turn would be multiplied by 20 to work out real truck's turning dimensions.
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Can you think of places where there is insufficient room to manoeuvre safely?
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 * [[image:P1300261.JPG]] || [[image:P1300256.JPG]] || ====**Our truck's tracking curves...**====

The space required to turn was definitely more than the width of the truck.
==== Tracking curves are all about vehicles having room for vehicles to function. For example, the road has to be a little wider on curves so that trucks to get around safely without encroaching onto the shoulder or across the centreline.====

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