Avisak Baishnab
English 21007
Most Effective Trains
Introduction
In this lab report, we will be looking at the different types of trains that we will be using for the Trans-Continental Railway. Our three options are the Bullet Train (often seen in Japan), MTA subway trains (used in New York City), and Passenger Trains (seen throughout the U.S. and various other countries.) We will be looking at which trains are fastest and which is healthiest for the environment.
Hypothesis
We believe that the Bullet Train will be the fastest train out of the three trains that we will be looking at. Although it is the fastest train, we also think that it will require the most energy out of the three trains.
Procedure
Take one of each train ( Bullet Train, MTA Train and Passenger Train) and put each of them on a straight railway that measures the same distance. Then calculate the top speed of each train. After that, look at what type of source they run on for example electricity and calculate how much of that source is needed to power the train and finally calculate the speed of the train based on its power source.
Results
After our experiments and tests, we found that out of the three trains the Bullet Train was the fastest. We placed the three trains on a straight railway that was around 800 miles long. We measured the time it took for the trains to traverse the distance and divided the distance over time in order to find the speed of the trains. We found that the top speed of the Bullet Train was 189 mph, the top speed of the MTA Train was 55 mph and the top speed of the Passenger Train was 59 mph. We also noted that the Bullet Train and the MTA Train run on electricity whereas the Passenger Train can run on both gas and electricity. Since we wanted a train that would be environment friendly, we decided to opt in for either the Bullet Train and MTA train. We looked into how much electricity is required to power the trains and found that the Bullet Train required about 25000 volts whereas the MTA Trains use 625 volts in order to run. We can see that the Bullet Train requires more electricity than the MTA Trains by a large amount.
In this graph above, you can see the top speeds of the three different trains. Out of the three trains, the Bullet Train has the highest top speed at 189 miles per hour, then comes the Passenger Train with a top speed of 59 miles per hour, barely beating the MTA train which had a top speed of 55 miles per hour. The reason for the insanely high top speed of the Bullet Train is due to the fact that it uses magnets to travel across locations. When leaving stations, the Bullet Train uses wheels to roll out of the station and as it accelerates and gains speed, the wheels retract and hover using magnets. The Bullet Train hovers 4 inches above the train tracks which helps to reduce the amount of friction between the wheels and the train track by completely removing the wheels aspect of the train. The MTA train and Passenger Train both use wheels and do not have any sort of magnet system to travel. MTA Trains get power and electricity from the train tracks that they run on and Passenger Trains use coal and oil in order to run. Once we had learned that the Passenger Trains require coal and oil to run, we decided not to use this train because it relied on non-renewable resources and omitted harmful gases for the environment. Both the MTA Trains and the Bullet Trains run on electricity which is more safe for the environment and is a renewable resource.
Conclusion
In conclusion, out of the three trains we can see that the Bullet Train is the fastest train and also requires the most amount of energy in order to be powered. In terms of top speed, the Passenger Trains came out 4 miles per hour faster than the MTA Train. The Passenger Train had a top speed of 59 miles per hour whereas the MTA Train had a top speed of 55 miles per hour. The Bullet Train’s top speed was almost four times the top speed of both the MTA train and the Passenger Train. The Bullet Train and the MTA train both ran on electricity and the Passenger Train ran on coal and oil. Since our entire project is to make a train system across the world that is environment friendly, we decided not to use the Passenger Train. We compared the Bullet Train and the MTA Train and how much electricity is needed to power them. The Bullet Train requires about 25000 volts of electricity whereas the MTA train requires a mere 625 volts of electricity. We also looked at the different prices of the trains. The Bullet Train is worth about $200 million per mile and a MTA Train is almost $2 million per cart. Although the Bullet Train is more expensive, it travels at insanely high speeds, is electric, and does not harm the environment.
