The…. Almost Deadly Study Session

I’m driving along, a tad bit of annoyance tinting my face an angry pink that’s leaning towards red; the driver in front of me seems to be incapable of NOT switching lanes, and maintaining a normal speed. A thought pops up; what if I get into an accident because of this stupid driver? I glance down; I’m not wearing a seatbelt. Then, I shrug it off. The chances of me getting into an accident? Most likely one in a million. Little did I know that I shouldn’t have said that; math was never my forte, and it proved true. The chances were a lot higher than I thought, and it did happen.

Instead, I decided to review some of that science I’d been learning lately, a much more interesting subject than math. Now what was it I had just recently read about? Oh yes, Newton’s First Law and inertia. I quizzed myself on a few definitions; I knew that Newton’s First Law was that an object remains at rest and an object in motion maintains its velocity unless it experiences a net force. Now what was the definition of inertia?... I considered it for a moment. Oh yeah! The words ran through my head like I was reading out of a book; I just had to remember a few spots here and there. The law of inertia states that an object that is not moving will not move until a net force acts upon it. It also states that an object that is in motion will not change its velocity (accelerate) until a net force acts upon it. I smiled, pleased with myself. Then, I considered the current situation, thinking about how I could refer inertia to what was going on. Both of us had a pretty energetic inertia; we were driving at about 65 miles per hour on the freeway. I realized I was pretty much tailgating the driver; my thoughts flashed back to my seat belt less position, and then I ignored the gut feeling I had of putting it on, which was a really bad idea. Just as I was figuring out that I had a bit more inertia than him, since I was gaining a few inches every few meters I went, the driver, who looked pretty cranky at this point, slammed on the brakes. I crashes into his back end; my last thought was “He has a low inertia now!” before I lost consciousness. I awoke later in a hospital, scared and unsure of my surroundings. A doctor came in, happy to see I was awake. I was told by him the story of what had happened; I was way too close to the driver, and he had slammed on the brakes, not knowing he would smash into me like that. I had bent like bamboo; I smashed my head into the wheel, my hands landing on the dashboard.
The doctor explained to me further; I came out with only a few scratches and a bruise or two; my hands had stopped me from hurting myself too bad, and my body had just snapped back up. I was thankful at the moment for my yoga classes; seemed that the flexibility I had gained from them came in handy in saving my life. The driver was in a bed next to me; he turned to apologize, explaining that the crash was never his goal. I sighed, nodded, and accepted his apology. Never again would I doubt my instincts. Looked like inertia wasn’t always the greatest thing, but at least I reviewed my science!
After all, I had a test tomorrow.


What a great way to study.