Absorb the Shock!
![]() IntroductionHave you ever ridden in a car over a pothole or a speed bump? You might feel the bumps and get tossed up and down in your seat a little bit, but not nearly as much as you would if the car did not have a suspension. Try this engineering project to learn how a suspension helps give you a smoother ride!
This activity is not appropriate for use as a science fair project. Good science fair projects have a stronger focus on controlling variables, taking accurate measurements, and analyzing data. To find a science fair project that is just right for you, browse our library of over 1,200 Science Fair Project Ideas or use the Topic Selection Wizard to get a personalized project recommendation.
BackgroundYou might not give it much thought if you are riding down a smooth, nicely paved road, but a car’s suspension is very important when driving on a bumpy road or over obstacles. It helps protect the car (and the passengers!) from damage when the car goes over a big bump. A car’s frame (and the seats inside it) is not rigidly connected to the wheels. If it was, every single bump or vibration experienced by the wheels would be transferred directly to the car and the people inside it – making for quite an uncomfortable ride. Instead, the wheels are connected to the rest of the car with a combination of springs (metal parts that bounce back to their original position when stretched or compressed) and dampers (parts that use friction to slow down motion, usually in the form of a piston filled with viscous oil), also called shock absorbers. Combined, these parts help absorb and decrease the vibrations from the road. In this project you will build your own simple model car and design a suspension to help prevent the cargo (packing peanuts) from being tossed out of the car when it drives over bumps! MaterialsThis is an engineering design project, meaning there is not an exact list of materials that you must use. The following list is a suggestion, but feel free to substitute other materials.
ProcedureRemember that this is an engineering design project – there is no single “correct” way to do it. The procedure below is a suggestion, but you can modify it at any point depending on what materials you decide to use.
Observations and ResultsYou should find that when you attach the cardboard box directly to the frame of your car, many of the packing peanuts are tossed out of the box when you pull it over the speed bumps. This occurs because the vibrations from the wheels are transferred directly to the cardboard box. This would be like riding in a car with no suspension – quite an uncomfortable ride (although of course, in a real car you would be wearing a seat belt, so you would not be tossed out of the car)! When you add a suspension, it helps absorb some of the vibrations, so the cardboard box does not bounce up and down as much, and doesn’t toss out as many of the packing peanuts. However, it may take some tweaking to get your suspension working well. The stiffness (thickness/length/tightness of the rubber bands or springs) and weight of an object (for example, adding coins) have a big impact on how it reacts to vibrations. Real engineers carefully design a car’s suspension to optimally absorb vibrations on the road, just like you did in this project! More to Explore
CreditsBen Finio, PhD, Science Buddies
This project was inspired by the Trash Sliders activity by Larry Richards ReviewsReviews |
Key Concepts
Engineering design, vibration
|
Explore Our Science Videos
How to Build an ArtBot
|
Make a Slushy! Yummy STEM Project
|
Physics and Chemistry of an Explosion Science Fair Project Idea
|