Car Technology and Physics
Driving (and teaching to drive) properly involves a lot of different skills and many of them need for a well-founded understanding of the technology used, namely, the vehicle. Therefore, in this course you will learn the technical competence needed to understand the behavior of the vehicle in motion and its main functioning principles. Furthermore, you will be able to properly understand, and use, the technology onboard the vehicle in a environmentally friendly, safe and proper way.
The course is taught partially in English and partially in Norwegian.
This course provides general knowledge and perspectives on key aspects related to physics and car technology.
The course starts covering some of the most relevant physics topics, including among the others:
- Measurement systems
- Forces & Moments
- Speed, Acceleration, Friction, Energy, Power, etc.
As an application of those theoretical concepts, the course unrolls itself through the following:
- Vehicle equilibrium
- Critical driving distances
Finally, all those aspects are applied into the main technological components of the vehicle, including among the others:
- Engine
- Brakes
- Wheels and tires
- Safety equipment and maintenance
- Driving Assistance Systems
Knowledge
After completing the course, the candidate has:
- broad knowledge of the physics that explains and describes the behavior of the vehicle in motion
- general knowledge of the vehicle’s constructive components and their main functions
- broad knowledge of the car's safety systems as well as maintenance
- knowledge of the car's environmental and economical impact
Skills
After completing the course, the candidate can:
- plan & carry out teaching with emphasis on the role of physical laws for the behavior of the vehicle in motion
- explain & justify the necessity of performing regular safety and operational checks, as well as maintenance of the car
- support with general scientific and technological arguments the choice/use of environmentally friendly vehicles and technologies
- plan, carry out & evaluate teaching about the car's constructive properties, operation and control
General competence
After completing the course, the candidate can:
- determine whether the car is in sound and proper condition and decide whether the car must be taken out of service until faults and defects have been rectified.
- discuss and exchange views on basic physics rules and technological components affecting a vehicle in motion
- exchange views on the proper use of personal protective equipment
- provide advice and exchange views on how cars powered by fossil or electrically based energy carriers affect the local and global environment
- Frontal lectures
- Group Work
- SI (Supplemental Instruction)
- Exercises
Arbeidskrav
GroupWork.Students will provide a focused deepening presentation of a single topic of the course. It must be NEW content, not something already covered by the lectures.
Rules for the compositions of the groups: • Maximum size of the group: 6 people • The final product must be a presentation, to be hold in front of the whole class.
The Groupwork is evaluated with Approved / Not Approved
Final exam
Six, 6, hours long individual written examination. The exam will be a random composition of the following tasks:
- Multiple choice questions
- More complex questions with the need of some calculations
- Advanced questions with several subrequests on one/different topics
- Pure knowledge-based quizzes / open questions
To each single question will be assigned a score, according to the complexity of the question.
The final exam is evaluated from A to F and counts 100 % of the final grade.
The final grade in the course appears when all the parts have been completed and approved.