The Motor City runs on forces, energy, and waves.
From crumple zones on the assembly line to the resonance inside a Motown record, Detroit is a working physics lab. This unit covers Newtonian mechanics, energy transfer, and wave behavior — grounded in the city's cars, grid, bridges, and sound.
NGSS Standards Addressed High School
- HS-PS2-1 Analyze data to support the claim that Newton's second law describes the mathematical relationship among the net force on an object, its mass, and its acceleration.
- HS-PS2-3 Apply scientific and engineering ideas to design, evaluate, and refine a device that minimizes the force on a macroscopic object during a collision.
- HS-PS3-3 Design, build, and refine a device that works within given constraints to convert one form of energy into another.
- HS-PS4-1 Use mathematical representations to support a claim regarding relationships among the frequency, wavelength, and speed of waves.
NGSS Standards Addressed Middle School
- MS-PS2-1 Apply Newton's Third Law to design a solution to a problem involving the motion of two colliding objects.
- MS-PS2-2 Plan an investigation to provide evidence that the change in an object's motion depends on the sum of the forces on the object and its mass.
- MS-PS3-5 Construct, use, and present arguments to support the claim that when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object.
- MS-PS4-2 Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.
Bell-Ringers
Project one at the start of class. Each has a click-to-reveal discussion note. More formats (Notice and Wonder, CER, Fact or Fiction, and more) are in the Bell-Ringer Bank.
A driver on I-94 is going 35 mph (about 15.6 m/s) when the car ahead brakes suddenly. If the car and driver have a combined mass of 1,500 kg and the brakes apply 6,000 N of force, how long does it take to stop — and why do airbags and seatbelts matter even though the car stops in about the same time either way?
Discussion notes
Motown's Snakepit studio (Hitsville U.S.A.) used a small, echo-heavy room to get its signature sound. Why would a smaller room with hard walls change the sound of a recording compared to a large, soft-walled room?
Discussion notes
DTE Energy delivers electricity to homes across Detroit through power lines at very high voltage, then steps it down before it enters a house. Using P = IV, explain why transmitting power at high voltage (and therefore lower current) reduces energy lost as heat in the wires.
Discussion notes
A small car and a big delivery truck bump into each other on Woodward Avenue. Newton's third law says they push on each other with equal force. So why does the small car usually get pushed back more than the truck?
Discussion notes
A Motown bassist presses a guitar string down to make it shorter, and the note gets higher. What does that tell you about the relationship between the length of a vibrating string and the pitch it makes?
Discussion notes
Detroit has replaced many old streetlights with LED bulbs. An LED streetlight uses far less electricity than an old incandescent one to make the same amount of light. Where does the "extra" energy go in the old incandescent bulb?
Discussion notes
Labs
Crumple Zone Physics: Designing a Safer Bumper
Students build a protective housing for a raw egg "passenger" riding in a model car that collides with a wall, then use motion-sensor or video data to calculate impulse and force, connecting their design choices to real automotive crumple-zone and airbag engineering developed in Detroit.
Sound of the City: Standing Waves & Instrument Design
Students use a vibrating string to measure how length and tension change frequency, then design and tune a simple rubber-band instrument to hit specific notes from a Motown bassline — turning Hitsville U.S.A.'s acoustics into a hands-on wave lab.
QLine Momentum & Braking Lab
Using published mass and typical operating speed data for Detroit's QLine streetcar, students calculate momentum at different speeds and compare stopping distances under different braking forces, then argue for a safe operating speed near a crowded stop.
Simulations
Crumple Zone Force Lab
Change car mass, impact speed, and crumple distance and watch average force, stopping time, and g-load update live.
Launch Simulation →Forces and Motion: Basics
PhET Interactive Simulations — explore how force, mass, and friction affect acceleration before or after the crumple-zone lab.
Open Simulation →Wave on a String
PhET Interactive Simulations — model frequency, amplitude, and wavelength; connect directly to the standing-waves lab idea.
Open Simulation →Circuit Construction Kit: DC
PhET Interactive Simulations — build circuits and measure voltage, current, and resistance to reason through the grid bell-ringer.
Open Simulation →Project Ideas
Bridge Expansion Physics
Research how the Gordie Howe International Bridge's cable-stayed design manages tension and compression forces, then build a scale model that demonstrates the same load path.
Stadium Projectile Motion
Use video analysis of a Lions field goal or Tigers home run to plot trajectory, calculate initial velocity and angle, and predict whether a kick clears the crossbar.
EV Motor Energy Audit
Compare the energy conversion efficiency of an internal combustion engine to an electric motor, using real specs from a Detroit-built EV, and present findings as an engineering brief.
Model Bridge Load Test
Build a simple popsicle-stick model of a bridge tower-and-cable system and test how much weight it holds before bending, relating results to the real Gordie Howe Bridge.
Slow-Motion Sports Physics
Film a bounce, throw, or kick at a local field in slow motion and describe, in plain language, the forces acting on the ball at each stage.
Gas vs. Electric: Where Does the Energy Go?
Create a labeled diagram comparing energy transfer in a gas engine versus an electric motor, showing where energy is used versus wasted as heat.
Show What You Know: Exit Ticket
Three quick questions to close the lesson. Answers are hidden until you click. Use Project Mode to display them full-screen.
A 1,200 kg car traveling 20 m/s is brought to rest in 0.5 s by a crumple zone, versus 0.1 s by a rigid wall. Compare the average forces.
Answer
A string's length is cut in half while its tension stays the same. What happens to the frequency and to the wavelength of its fundamental standing wave?
Answer
Why does a power company step electricity up to a very high voltage before sending it across long distances?
Answer
A small car and a delivery truck bump each other. Compare the force each one feels and which one speeds up or slows down more.
Answer
You press a guitar string against the neck to make the vibrating part shorter. Does the pitch go up or down? Why?
Answer
An old incandescent streetlight and an LED use the same electricity. Where does most of the incandescent bulb's energy end up, and why does the LED waste less?
Answer
Physics, built on Detroit
Detroit's identity as the Motor City means physics class connects straight to real engineering: seatbelt and airbag design, crumple zones, and braking systems were refined here, and the same impulse–momentum ideas govern every collision on I-94 or Woodward Avenue today.
Every home's electric bill traces back to DTE Energy's grid — a live system of voltage transformation, power transmission, and energy loss that makes circuits and power calculations tangible rather than abstract.
Motown Records, founded on West Grand Boulevard, built its sound using acoustics and resonance — the same wave physics students measure with a string or tuning fork in this unit.
Ford Field, Comerica Park, and Little Caesars Arena are full of projectile motion and biomechanics — a thrown football or a slap shot is a physics problem before it's a highlight.
Who works on this in Detroit?
Real roles and organizations in and around the city where this science is part of the job.
Vehicle safety / crash-test engineer
Designs and tests crumple zones, airbags, and restraint systems using impulse, momentum, and energy calculations.
Power systems / grid engineer
Plans how electricity is stepped up, transmitted, and stepped down so Detroit homes get reliable power with minimal losses.
Acoustics / audio engineer
Uses wave behavior, resonance, and room acoustics to shape how recordings and live shows sound.
Transit operations engineer
Balances speed, braking distance, schedules, and safety for buses and streetcars sharing city streets.
Sports performance scientist
Applies forces, motion analysis, and energy transfer to improve athlete performance and reduce injury.