this is the question and thanks. A popular newspaper columnist* once fielded the
ID: 2263205 • Letter: T
Question
this is the question and thanks.
A popular newspaper columnist* once fielded the question from one of her readers: Would it be better to collide head-on with an identical car traveling at the same speed or collide with a stationary brick wall? The author answered: The brick wall. Using similar calculations as above and examining your results above, how would you respond? (Assume that the collision time is the same in both instances.) Some public awareness ads have stated that being involved in a head-on collision with both cars traveling at 30 mph is like hitting a brick wall at 60 mph. How would you respond?Explanation / Answer
A) The author is wrong, there is no diffeence... this problem assumes a perfectly inelastic collision therefore the tranfer of momentum would be 0
B) The claim is false, hitting the wall at 60mph is worse... If the change of momentum is 0 when you hit the car at 30mph all you are doing is doubling the acceleration by hitting the wall at 60mph and therefor increasing the overall force.
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