Super 8 Project

Super 8 Film Project 

by Megan Neil 

What is Super 8? 

Super 8 was a  2011 fantasy, thriller blockbuster that hit the theaters in America. The main plot of the movie is about a group of middle schoolers who are trying to make a zombie movie using a super 8 camera. Hence, the name of the movie is called Super 8 . While in the midst of filming, the kids are put into the middle of a horrifying train disaster involving a car literally driving straight into the train. The kids soon discover that the horrific "accident" wasn't actually an accident at all, as many unexplained events and disappearances happen, following the train crash. All of which were caused by a supernatural-being escaping from the train the night of the crash. The kids then spend most of the movie working on their movie, while vaguely discussing what happened the night of the train derailment. However, their investigations into the phenomenon do not go into very much depth. Nonetheless, the kids are soon shocked that the unexplained occurrences are being caused by an extra-triestrial. An extra-triestrial that kidnapped the only girl in the group; their dear friend, Alice. 

What is Torque?

In our everyday lives we use torque more so than we all probably realize. You even use torque every single day at least three times when opening a door. Once for turning the key, second for turning the doorknob, and third for actually opening the door. However, torque may be more commonly used when discussing the most popular form of transpiration; automobiles. Mostly, torque is used when describing how powerful a car is. However, in a more intelligent description, torque is the force that pistons put on the crankshaft, causing for the pistons and the wheels to turn. Essentially, without torque, we would not be able to get anywhere using our favorite form of transportation. Nonetheless, torque is not only just an automobile term. Torque is the reasoning for many general physics applications. Torque is often defined as a twisting force that tends to cause rotation. We know today that the point of which the object rotates is also known as the axis of rotation. This will be discussed in regard to the movie scene later. 

The Physics Behind Torque.

When trying to find a linear force, you need to know a mass and an acceleration off the gate. Torque, of course, is a little different due to fact that rotation is

involved. Use the example of opening a door, for instance. Where does one push when wanting to door to open easier? Usually, people tend to push away from the hinges, because the closer one pushes near the hinges, the more difficult it becomes to open the door. Thus, when dealing with the physics of torque, we not only need to know the mass of an object and the acceleration, but also how far away the force is from the axis of rotation. 

How is Torque related to an alien film?

Step one: Watch the scene

Step two: Do the math 

In the scene an alien hits the bus, causing for it to start to tip. Or, in a more physics term; the bus is beginning to rotate counterclockwise. However, how much force would really be required to actually cause the bus to move like it did in the scene? To estimate the amount of force the alien would have to exert in order for the bus to start to rotate, is simple. First, one would need to know the height of the bus. An average bus is about 10ft, and in order to do the equation 10ft would be D_1. W meaning the width would be 8ft. Then, D_2, which is half of the width would be 4ft. Now, in order to estimate the mass, one would want to have a number bigger than W*D_2 divided by the D_1, because that is the amount of force it would take to move the bus in general. Therefore, when the numbers are plugged in to the equation, one gets 3.2ft. Meaning, the force of the alien can be anything bigger than 3.2ft. 

However, there is another factor to this scene that one could decode by using torque physics. That being, whether the bus would have tipped over or not. In order to find this out one would need to think about center of mass; which is the point through weight acts. If the center of mass never crosses the axis of rotation, then the bus will never flip. So, when finding out if the bus would have flipped or not is a use of simple algebra. Think of the bus flipping as a right triangle. With the axis of rotation (D_2) being the center point of the triangle. The triangle then would be split at the bottom of the bus causing for the two angles to be a 30 and 60 degrees. The 60 degree angle being the one in the actual bus interfering with the center mass, and being the meaning behind the use of tan60. There one would also find the use of hcom, which is a representation of the center of mass. If the bus were completely symmetrical, then the hcom would only be half the height. However, considering most of the weight of the bus is at the bottom, then the center of mass would be less than half the height. Therefore, since the height of the bus is ten, one could use 4ft as hcom; since half of ten is five. In order for the bus to not tip, hcom would need to be smaller than tan60*D_2. Tan60*D_2, when calculated is 6.9282. Meaning, that since hcom is less than 6.9282 the bus would in fact not tip. Which would indicate that Super 8 got torque physics correct! One point for humans, zero for aliens!!