Outline for Second Term Paper

Principle: Law of Inertia (object in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.

Three films that incorrectly illustrate the Law of Inertia:

1.     Wanted

2.     Star War Episode 6: Return of the Jedi

3.     Speed

THESIS: The film industry gains respect when a moment is believable in our world as well as world that we have never experienced. Adhering to the law of inertia in every sense would be believable, however, to the thrill-seeking moviegoer, believable is not always impressive or entertaining for the world introduced.

 

I.               Wanted: Curving Bullets

-Why?

The movie Wanted portrays a cult of assassins possessing the mystical power of shooting curving bullets around objects and infrastructures to kill their targets. However, curving a bullet is impossible. Only a spherical object can be curved through a fluid due to Magnus forces causing pressure differential. A bullet, a cylindrical object, does occur Magnus forces through a fluid but produces a lift force rather than a curved motion.

Therefore, the bullet in motion will stay in motion and not deviate from its path.

II.             Star Wars: Battle of the Death Star: X-wing twist and turns in space

-Why?

During the Battle for Endor, the X-Wing star fighters have the ability to perform agile maneuvers and acrobatic tactics to avoid their enemies. The X-Wings contain four propulsion engines on the rear of the fighter craft that are facing the same direction. With just these four engines, propelling in the same direction, the fX-Wing cannot perform such movement. Outer space is a vacuum, therefore, the fighter would need propulsion engines directed in all directions allowing the fighter to change paths.

In our universe, an object in motion stays in motion. The fighter craft, given the standalone force of the propulsion engines, would remain going straight unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.

III.           Speed: Bus Jump

-Why?

In the movie Speed, a bus jumps a gap created in a highway. The opposite ends of the highway gap are relatively flat, allowing for little to no vertical ascension.  When the bus begins to jumps the gap, the front end appears to have a vertical lift before the rear end of the bus even leaves the paved highway.  This would not happen due to the angle of the paved highway .The front of the bus would continue off of the cliff and descend due to the acceleration of gravity. 

Also, upon surviving the jump, the shot of the rear end of the bus seemed to have been above the ground plane of the highway. This contrasted with the first shot of the bus lifting off the cliff, where the rear end of the bus descended the ultimate height of the highway.

These two factors mentioned defy the law of inertia because the action of the bus in the movie would call for additional help to make it happen for the final shot.

CONCLUSION:  For the sake of story, laws of physics, such as the law of inertia could be deviated from in an effort to impress. However, without careful planning, the deviation could offend viewers because the sad attempt to trick the viewer could go horribly wrong.