Sunday afternoon, I was bored of doing history homework so I decided to take a break and play some MarioKart. I was trying to break a time trial at coconut mall and flying off a ramp reminded me of projectile motion. I wondered if I could complete the course faster if I just drove around the ramp instead of trying to use it to propel me foward faster. First i would have to time how long before the car hits the ground. Then if the cars initial velocity and the angle of the ramp was known, I could easily calculate the x and y components of the vector using the formulas vcos(angle)=Vx and vsin(angle)=Vy and figure out the distance the car travels accelerating up and down at -9.8m/s with constant horizonal velocity. Finally compare the results with the time it takes to travel the same distance with out a ramp using time=distance/velocity. I learned its faster to go straight avoiding the ramp than travel unecesary distance vertically.
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I love mario cart! nice application, very creative.
ReplyDeleteI like how you found Physics in a video game.
ReplyDeleteI never thought about Mario Kart in that way before.