Chapter 11
Zhu Bo is a food streamer on the Whale Live platform, taking advantage of the National Day holiday to travel around and gain viewers. His destination today is a well-known food court near the computer mall in Guangling City.
He chatted with the viewers in the live stream as he walked, his throat parched under the blazing National Day sun. Since they hadn't officially gotten to the main topic yet, the viewers weren't very enthusiastic, and only a handful left comments.
Zhu Bo was trying to find some topics or material to liven up the atmosphere of the live stream when a comment with several exclamation marks popped up:
"Hey streamer! There's a handsome guy up to your right rear! Charge!!"
Where? Where?
Zhu Bo turned his head and saw two cars lying across the intersection, clearly from an accident. Several people were confronting each other beside the cars. Zhu Bo looked closer and saw that one of them was indeed quite handsome. In this day and age, looks equal traffic. Although Zhu Bo is a food streamer, no one would go against their viewers and traffic. Seeing that the comments about the handsome man in the live stream were increasing, he quickly took his camera to capture some footage.
Not all viewers in the live stream were interested in handsome men, but everyone enjoyed the battle. It would be even more exciting if they actually fought. Everyone laughed and cheered in the live stream.
"Oh, that handsome guy moved! What's he getting from the car?"
"Could it be iron bars or something? Are they about to fight?" (Excited.jpg)
"Am I seeing things? Is that a piece of draft paper?"
"There seems to be a pen too, what's going on?" (Confused.jpg)
"Do they have to write a manifesto before the battle? That's such a unique approach."
...
Wang Sikai found Ji Zhixing's display of knowledge as a weapon utterly laughable. He'd only studied physics for a year or two at a bottom-tier 985 university, and he dared to act so arrogantly? Did he really think that memorizing a few mechanics formulas meant he could apply his knowledge? Wang Sikai patiently awaited the laughable blunders Ji Zhixing would make.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed someone holding a live-streaming device nearby. He casually moved aside, giving the center position to Ji Zhixing. He chuckled inwardly, thinking, "If you're going to embarrass yourself, go for the big embarrassment."
Ji Zhixing didn't notice Wang Sikai's stylish movement. He quickly sorted out his thoughts and realized that the most crucial point was the distance from the collision to the stop.
"First of all, we can make two assumptions about the vehicle speed at the time of the collision: 30 km/h and 20 km/h. Is there any objection to this?" At that time, we started from the intersection after the green light, so the speed was roughly in that range.
Wang Sikai looked at Ji Zhixing with his hands behind his back, neither nodding nor shaking his head. Ji Zhixing took it as his tacit agreement and wrote the number on the paper.
"Let's calculate the first scenario. If the vehicle speed at the time of the collision is 30 km/h, then the initial velocity V0 = 8.33 m/s."
Ji Zhixing recalled the sophomore textbook "Physical Education IV" that he had read during the summer vacation and said, "According to data on sports training, the average person's reaction time is between 0.2 and 0.4 seconds. We'll take the middle value of 0.3 seconds. You don't have any objections to that, do you?"
Wang Sikai crossed his arms and remained silent, maintaining an attitude of neither denying nor confirming.
Ji Zhixing gave him two seconds of silence before continuing: "Reaction time is 0.3 seconds. From the start of the reaction, it takes 0.15 seconds to move your foot from the accelerator pedal to the brake pedal, and the brake free travel is 0.15 seconds."
Therefore, the time from the collision to the start of effective braking is 0.3 + 0.15 + 0.15 = 0.6 seconds (T1). So, S1 = T1 × V0 = 0.6 × 8.33 = 5 (meters)
Ji Zhixing wrote the two lines of numbers on a piece of paper, held it up, and showed it to Wang Sikai for three seconds. He was too lazy to ask Wang Sikai if he had any objections.
Wang Sikai adjusted his glasses, stared at the lines of numbers, and felt that things seemed to be going a little beyond his expectations.
"Next, we calculate the displacement. According to the displacement formula S2=V0T-1/2aT^2, we need three data: initial velocity V0, acceleration a, and time T."
“The initial velocity was calculated just now.” Ji Zhixing circled a number in the first line, “8.33 meters per second.”
He continued writing and explaining, “First, calculate the acceleration a. According to Newton’s second law, F=ma, the acceleration a=F/m;”
Frictional force F = coefficient of friction × normal force;
The coefficient of sliding friction between the wheel and the asphalt road surface is 0.6, the normal force is mg, m is the mass of the vehicle, and g is the gravitational acceleration of 9.8 m/s.
Therefore, F = 0.6 mg;
Acceleration a = F/m = 0.6mg/m = 0.6g = 0.6 × 9.8 = 5.88”
Ji Zhixing also circled the acceleration "5.88".
"Next, calculate the time: T = V0/a = 8.33/5.88 = 1.42 (seconds)."
He also circled "1.42", and then quickly wrote down a few lines:
Substitute the above three data points into the displacement formula S2=V0T-1/2aT^2;
=8.33×1.42-0.5×5.88×2.02;
=11.83-5.94 =5.89”
Ji Zhixing held the paper up for Wang Sikai to see for three seconds, then wrote the last line:
S = S1 + S2 = 5 + 5.89 = 10.89
He drew several heavy lines under "10.89" and then calculated it again using the same logic, incorporating the collision speed of 20 km/h.
"In the second scenario, the vehicle's speed at the time of the collision was 20 km/h, so the total distance from the collision to the stop was 5.96 meters. The vehicle's length is approximately 4.9 meters. Whether it's the 10.89 meters in the first scenario or the 5.96 meters in the second scenario, our vehicle was completely traveling within its own lane on the inner circle."
As Ji Zhixing spoke, he tore off the piece of paper and handed it to Wang Sikai: "Conclusion: You are fully responsible."
Wang Sikai didn't answer; he had already regretted it when he heard the displacement formula. The formula used in the derivation process wasn't actually complicated; the difficulty lay in designing a reasonable and rigorous approach from scratch. He had been listening carefully the whole time, but couldn't find any flaws from beginning to end. Reaction time, friction, initial velocity, and acceleration had all been taken into account, and he couldn't think of any angle to refute or criticize it in a short time.
As Ji Zhixing was deriving the formula, Wang Sikai remained silent. The onlookers and viewers in the live stream were also confused by the series of numerical formulas and theorems and remained silent as well.
As a host, Zhu Bo really wanted to say something and interact with the audience, but he studied media in college, which was completely unrelated to his major, so he couldn't understand it!
His limited knowledge of science was acquired in high school, and he eagerly returned it all to his teachers after graduation. Now, looking back, his mind feels like it's been erased by an eraser, leaving only faint and blurry traces.
There are many people like him. For example, during the days of the National College Entrance Examination (Gaokao) every year, the most discussed topic is always Chinese, while after the exams for subjects like math, physics, and chemistry, most people can only join in the criticism of the examiners for being inhumane. The Chinese essay topics can trend on social media every year, and many people can even write a few paragraphs based on their feelings, while the math, physics, and chemistry questions are simply not within the scope of discussion.
However, at the moment, although most people didn't understand the process, they at least understood the final conclusion. As a result, passersby began to whisper among themselves, and comments started flooding the live stream.
"I don't understand, but it sounds impressive!"
"Master math, physics, and chemistry, and you'll be able to go anywhere in the world without fear!"
"I never expected the battle to unfold in this way."
"Today's inspirational quote: The knowledge you acquire is your weapon!"
"It has been proven that reading more books is useful."
"I just came to see the food, why do I have to suffer like this..." (crying.jpg)
"I envy top students."
"So this is what you call a top student? Those formulas and stuff are just high school level, aren't they? (picking nose.jpg)"
"Of all the knowledge we've acquired, how many can we actually apply in practice? The most valuable thing is being able to put what we've learned into practice."
"Hey, I was just thinking about the high school senior physics midterm exam questions, and this is right here! (witty.jpg)"
"Shut up! You're harming the future of our nation!" (Screaming groundhog.jpg)
"Hehehe, quickly send a copy to the Chinese teacher too. This is a ready-made task-driven essay topic: 'Discuss your views on applying what you've learned.' (Smirking.jpg)"
"You guys are going too far! Why exclude the math teacher? Isn't this a classic follow-up question? (doge.jpg)"
"Give everyone a thumbs up, and get me promoted! (666.jpg)"
"Arrange everything, arrange everything, anyway I've already graduated."
"Isn't this calculation potentially accurate?"
"After clicking in, I knew the handsome guy was right!"
"Hahaha!"
"Don't they know whose responsibility it is? The other side is not saying anything, so they must be accepting it."
"Yeah, I think he was three parts mockery, three parts indifference, and four parts nonchalance at first, but he stopped being so pretentious later."
"Look behind us, the traffic police are here. Let's see what the police officer has to say."
Jiao Jing, a traffic policeman wearing a fluorescent vest, neatly pulled his police motorcycle over to the side of the road and sighed slightly. He was in charge of this area during the National Day holiday. There had been nothing going on for the first few days, and today was the last day. He thought he could finish the job perfectly, but he didn't expect something to happen at the last minute.
He got out of the car and glanced at the accident scene to know that the scratches were minor. In normal cases, if both parties can reach an agreement, they can resolve the matter through negotiation. However, in this situation, it's clear that both parties have conflicting accounts, and the responsibility cannot be clearly defined.
When Ji Zhixing saw the traffic police arrive, he handed them the sheet of calculation paper. He briefly explained his thought process and summarized the key points of the results.
Jiao Jing stared at the paper, the dense numbers and formulas reminding him of the terror of being dominated by math and physics in his school days. But he wasn't a high school student anymore; he was a seasoned traffic policeman. He handed the dizzying sheet of calculations back to Ji Zhixing, steer the conversation back onto his professional path:
"According to traffic regulations, vehicles in the inner lane have the right-of-way priority when turning and should follow the principle of yielding to vehicles in the outer lane. In the event of a collision, if there was no acceleration or overtaking, the outer laner is fully responsible and the inner laner is not responsible. If there are any disputes, the dashcam footage can be retrieved for review." While a dashcam may not record the actions of vehicles traveling alongside it, it can still determine whether the vehicle accelerated to overtake.
Viewers in the live broadcast room said that the traffic police's concise judgment principles were like listening to celestial music, instantly making their ears clear.
"After listening to what the policeman said, my head suddenly cleared up." (Upright and dignified.jpg)
"Haha, as a poor student, I still prefer this simple and straightforward method of assigning responsibility."
"Me too!" (Zhang Fei.jpg)
"I second that proposal!"
"But the top student is still so handsome! I need all his information in three minutes!"
"Knowledge is still appealing. Looking at the merchandise I just bought for my brother, I suddenly feel bored."
...
After reciting the traffic regulations, Jiao Jing asked the parties involved, "Do you need to retrieve the video footage for review?"
Ji Zhixing looked at Wang Sikai with a leisurely air.
Wang Sikai looked away, not wanting to see Ji Zhixing's smug expression. He slowly shook his head at the traffic police, took the ticket, and stared at it several times, holding his breath. He'd lost today, but there was always next time. One day, he would definitely get his revenge!
A note from the author:
The phrase "as if hearing celestial music, one's ears are instantly enlightened" comes from the poem "The Song of the Pipa".
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