What is transport technology?
Transport technology is the tools and systems we use to move people and goods.
Every transport system has five parts:
- Vehicle: the car, train, ship, plane or rocket.
- Way: the path, such as a road, rail track, sea lane or air route.
- Terminal: where trips start and end, such as a station, port or airport.
- Power: the engine or motor and its fuel or battery.
- Control: drivers, pilots, signals, traffic lights and GPS.
Transport changed step by step: walking and animals, then the wheel, sailing ships, steam engines (1800s), petrol cars and planes (1900s), jets and rockets, and now electric and self-driving vehicles.
The science of moving on land, water, air and space
Land
A wheel pushes back on the road. Friction pushes the wheel forward. On ice, friction is low, so tyres slip.
Water
Water pushes up on a ship. This is buoyancy. A steel ship floats because its hollow hull pushes aside a lot of water.
Air
Four forces act on a plane. Lift (up, from air flowing over the wings) beats weight (down). Thrust (forward, from engines) beats drag (air pushing back).
Space
A rocket throws hot gas out backwards. The gas pushes the rocket forwards. This is Newton's third law: every action has an equal and opposite reaction. It works even where there is no air.
Energy and engines
- Internal combustion engine: burns petrol or diesel. Only about 25 to 35% of the fuel energy moves the car. The rest becomes heat.
- Electric motor: uses a battery. About 85 to 90% of the energy moves the car. No smoke at the road, but the electricity must also come from clean sources.
- Hybrid: an engine plus a motor. It saves fuel in city traffic.
- Hydrogen fuel cell: makes electricity from hydrogen; only water comes out.
- Maglev: magnets lift the train above the track. No wheel friction, so it can go very fast.
Efficiency = useful energy out ÷ energy in × 100%.
Transport safety and logistics
Stopping distance = thinking distance + braking distance.
- Thinking distance = speed × reaction time (about 1 s).
- Braking distance grows with speed squared. Double the speed, and braking distance becomes four times longer.
Safety tech: seat belts, airbags, ABS brakes, helmets, crumple zones, speed cameras and signals.
Logistics plans how goods move: the route, the mode, storage and timing. Containers fit ships, trains and trucks, so goods change vehicle without unpacking.
To solve a transport problem (like traffic jams), engineers follow a design process: find the problem, collect data, think of ideas (bus lanes, metro, cycle tracks), test a model, then improve it.
Try it at home
Make a paper boat and float it in a bowl. Add coins one by one. Count how many it holds before it sinks. Then make a wider boat and try again. A wider hull pushes aside more water, so it carries more coins.
Key formulas and definitions
- Speed = distance ÷ time
- Thinking distance = speed × reaction time
- Braking distance = v² ÷ (2a)
- Stopping distance = thinking distance + braking distance
- Efficiency = useful energy out ÷ energy in × 100%
- Plane flies level when lift = weight and thrust = drag
Worked examples
1. A train covers 300 km in 2.5 hours. What is its average speed?
Speed = 300 ÷ 2.5 = 120 km/h.
2. A car moves at 20 m/s (72 km/h). The driver's reaction time is 1 s. Brakes slow it at 7 m/s². Find the stopping distance.
Thinking distance = 20 × 1 = 20 m. Braking distance = 20² ÷ (2 × 7) = 400 ÷ 14 ≈ 28.6 m. Stopping distance ≈ 20 + 28.6 = 48.6 m.
3. A petrol engine gets 100 kJ from fuel and gives 30 kJ of motion energy. An electric motor gets 100 kJ and gives 88 kJ. Compare their efficiency.
Petrol: 30 ÷ 100 × 100% = 30%. Electric: 88 ÷ 100 × 100% = 88%. The electric motor wastes far less energy as heat.
Common mistakes
- Thinking a heavy steel ship floats because steel is light. It floats because its hollow hull pushes aside a large amount of water.
- Thinking rockets need air to push against. The rocket pushes on its own exhaust gas, so it works in empty space.
- Thinking double speed means double stopping distance. Braking distance grows with speed squared, so it becomes four times.
- Thinking electric vehicles are always zero-pollution. They are clean at the road, but the electricity may come from coal.