Why Should Magnetic Levitation Trains be Implemented in the United States?

1060 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Maglev train conclusion

Magnetic Levitation Trains

"Magnetic Levitation Trains, why should they be implemented in the United States?" Whenever individuals talk about trains, a few ideas pop into one’s mind. These include the railway tracks that provide runways for the wheels, the noise associated with them and the long heavy carriages that they pull. Utilizing the words ‘Magnetic Levitation’ in relation to trains may seem like a peculiar idea. Why? Levitation can be described as the act of raising an object upward in relation with its lightness. Trains are known to be heavy. Magnetic levitation, which is also known as Maglev, is a rail technology that utilizes a special magnetized railway track to suspend a train on a magnetic cushion so that it can move freely and faster than the conventional trains. This technology does not utilize wheels since the train floats on the magnetized track from one place to another (Funk and Getsla, 2006).

The general explanation of the Magnetic Levitation system is simple. It uses the concept of magnetism where the magnets’ like poles repel and the unlike poles attract. The train is fitted with superconducting magnets while the railway track, which is called a guide way, is fitted with coils, and they are positioned in a manner that will help induce an electric current between them when the train passes at high speed. The electric current generated causes the coils to act as temporary electromagnets (Livingston, 2011). Since the semiconductor magnets and the coils are positioned similarly to the like poles repel on a magnet, they repel each other. The magnetic forces created push the superconductor magnet on the train upwards, therefore, providing thrust. This force causes the train to levitate on the guide way (Funk a...

... middle of paper ...

...evitation technology will offer many benefits to United States of America. In Japan, the Maglev trains are already in use and no accidents have occurred resulting from this technology. The only accident that involved the Maglev trains occurred in Germany in 2006 and it was caused by human errors. Since there have been a significant advancement in technology in the past few years, the Maglev trains will be safer since most of the operations and controls will be monitored using computers (Shadbolt, 2013). This is the technology of the future and to ensure development, America must embrace it and move with the times. Japan has offered to make a significant contribution to the Maglev trains development in the United States of America (Ryall, 2014). This opportunity should be utilized to ensure that America is not left behind in the development of future technologies.

Show More
Related

  • Phenomena Of Roller Coasters

    870 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ever wondered how roller coasters work? It’s not with an engine! Roller coasters rely on a motorized chain and a series of phenomena to keep them going. Phenomena are situations or facts that have been observed and proven to exist. A few types of phenomena that help rollercoasters are gravity, kinetic and potential energy, and inertia. Gravity pulls roller coasters along the track as they’re going downhill. Potential and kinetic energy help rollercoasters to ascend hills and gain enough momentum to descend them and finish the track. Inertia keeps passengers pressed towards the outside of a loop-the-loop and in their seat. Gravity, potential and kinetic energy, and inertia are three types of phenomena that can be observed by watching roller

    Read More

  • How the CTA and Metra Impact Chicago

    1863 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...g I can use for my final paper when I include evidence about the environmental impacts of the trains on the city. I also liked this source because of how it talks about these organizations competing to bring more money into the city, which shows that they are positively impacting Chicago's economy.

    Read More

  • Transcontinental Railroad Essay

    1297 Words  | 3 Pages

    Railroads first appeared around the 1830’s, and helped the ideas of Manifest Destiny and Westward expansion; however, these were weak and didn’t connect as far as people needed, thus causing them to be forced to take more dangerous routes. On January 17th, 1848, a proposal was sent to Congress by Asa Whitney to approve and provide federal funding...

    Read More

  • How Did Technology Change America During The Gilded Age

    1398 Words  | 3 Pages

    American businesses were affected by newly constructed railroads, George Pullman, and Alexander Graham Bell. To meet the demand of the American businesses, the Go-Getters constructed railroads all across the United States. Due to the miles of railroad track, it brought a well needed, easier, and faster means of transportation. Much land to the West were worthless until railroads were built, ultimately creating a profitable land of sources such as iron, copper, and oil. Along with railroads, George Pullman invented the Pullman Sleeping Car in 1857, allowing for more comfortable means of transportation.

    Read More

  • Physics of Roller Coasters

    1756 Words  | 4 Pages

    at top speed. At the top of the loop, gravity has slowed the train down somewhat, so it has more

    Read More

  • railroad and disease

    1272 Words  | 3 Pages

    The railroad played a major role in forging the history of many countries including the United States of America. The railroad began to bring people to places that before then where only accessed by weeks of dangerous travel over harsh and deadly terrain. The industrial revolution had ushered in a completely new era. The new era was one of mass production, supply and demand, and new requirements of industry. The growth of industry had created new demands for transit, trade, and more robust supply lines. The railroad boom across the U.S. had spread and proceeded to grow the economy quickly therefore, many people began using the rail roads just as quickly. The rail market continued to grow and by the 1860’s all major cities within the United States were connected by rail.

    Read More

  • The Art of Ride Design

    1667 Words  | 4 Pages

    With the opening of America’s first roller coaster in 1873, a new innovative market was introduced into the American industrial market. With it came a new set of challenges that pushed the limits of the engineering methods used at the time. Oddly enough though, America’s safest roller coaster ever built was also the simplest; the Mauch Chunk Railway was originally used to bring coal down the mountainside of a Pennsylvania mine. The now unused 2,322 feet of track was re-opened a few months later for the purpose of carrying passengers down the side of the mountain. The rail cars used did not have brakes or an engine; they simply used the force of gravity to take the train and its passengers, sometimes at speeds upwards of 60 miles per hour, down the side of the mountain until it came to a rest at the bottom. “The railway offered spectacular views of the Lehigh River and the Blue Ridge Mountains for the region's visitors to see. The area became a large Nineteenth Century tourist attraction and people came from all over to be thrilled by the M.C.R.” (Sandy). Throughout the ride’s 56-year span of passenger operation, not a single injury was reported. Since the ever-simplistic entertainment methods of the 1920’s, our industrial capabilities have grown in geometric proportions; however the one problem is they have been severely lagged by the safety and control systems that govern them. Recently, however, advancements in computer technology have yielded a drastic improvement in these control systems that have allowed ride designers to design increasingly safer and more reliable ride systems.

    Read More

  • Industrial Evolution: America's Shift from Agrarian to Industrial Society

    1104 Words  | 3 Pages

    The most important thing that came from the creation of railroads was that it made the United States seem significantly smaller. Traveling across states no longer was a journey that would take several days, all it took was a short train ride. The railroad industry itself became a force to be reckoned with, “creating the modern practice of political “lobbying’” (T&S 580). Railroad companies used this practice to essentially buy out congressmen in order to build support for favorable laws.

    Read More

  • Railroad Essay

    866 Words  | 2 Pages

    Railroads have made better the lives of most citizens in the US. By the 1890s, the United States was becoming an urban nation , railroads were a great way of transport between towns. They were used for the shipping of food, building materials and fuel. The presence of them could bring a territory a lot of opportunities as well as it could change its economy in many ways. Railroads also helped to shape physically the growth of towns and also a lot business grew around focal points in the railroad industry. Later on, the United States transport system was composed by 320,000 kilometers of railroads that prolonged from the Pacific to the Atlantic and vice versa and also connecting with the frontier countries, Mexico and Canada.

    Read More

  • Liberty Bell

    3362 Words  | 7 Pages

    travels by rail car around the United States to be placed on exhibit at numerous World's

    Read More

  • Mass Transit: The Future of American Travel

    1657 Words  | 4 Pages

    It has been shown that the benefits of increased investment in the public transportation sector would apply to most, if not all, Americans. Whatever monetary costs Americans would have to meet would be met, if not completely overshadowed by the amount they would save on average. Therefore, based on the evidence available, one may conclude that it is not only necessary and proper, but also urgent to pursue an active agenda towards the increased funding and research of public transportation.

    Read More

  • Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

    1732 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Baltimore and Ohio railroad has a very interesting background on why it started. Many years after the American Revolution a large number of people began to migrate west over the Cumberland Narrows, which is two mountains with a narrow gap in-between located in western Maryland. The Cumberland Narrows was also an early traveling path to the boat building centers located in Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh. It was also the same route George Washington took for Braddock’s Expedition, an attempt to capture the French Fort Duquesne which failed. The route had become famous as the Cumberland Road which was one of the five passes through the rough Appalachians. Now that multitudes of people were moving to the West, it was a chance to make profit. While water transport and travel was the hottest technology of the day, some of Baltimore’s business community wanted something new and different that would also generate wealth. The intelligent comm...

    Read More

  • The Physics of Roller Coasters

    866 Words  | 2 Pages

    “A roller coaster is essentially a gravity-powered train (2).” Gravity is the weakest of the four physical forces, but when it comes to roller coasters, it is the dominant one. It is the driving force and what accelerates the train through all the turns and twists. Gravity is what applies a constant downward force on the cars. The deceleration or acceleration mostly depends on the inclination of the angle relative to the ground. The steeper the slope is, the greater the acceleration, and vice versa.

    Read More

  • What Are The Impact Of Technology In The 20th Century

    1468 Words  | 3 Pages

    From scientific breakthroughs that revolutionized our understanding of the world to practical inventions that changed the way we live, scientific and technological developments in the 20th century have profoundly altered nearly every aspect of our lives. We usually think of these changes as wholly positive, but when you look at the destruction caused after the first two atomic bombs were dropped on Japan in 1945, this view tends to be distorted. As we can see by this horrific event, technology can be used to improve lives, but also destroy them.

    Read More

  • Rail Transport Essay

    1573 Words  | 4 Pages

    Rail transportation is a transportation in which for movement of people and goods which from one location to another destination. Rail had been takes the important role in physical and economic development of town and cities in a country and it was developed over the world. Rail transport can be made a property value in a country increase and it must be needs improvement in transportation network expanding (Goldberg, 1970). Thus, the railway services need to be done with continuous improvement and it is important to the rail passengers of the range and quality of facilities and service on stations and trains (Gleave, S. D., 2000). The future development to a public transportation is a key to affect

    Read More

More about Why Should Magnetic Levitation Trains be Implemented in the United States?

Open Document