Impulse-momentum: Consider two less-than-desirable options. In the first you are driving 50 km/h and crash head-on into an identical car also going 50km/h. In the second option you are driving 50 km/h and crash head-on into a stationary brick wall. In neither case does your car bounce off the thing it hits, and the collision time is the same in both cases. Which of these two situations would result in the greatest impact force?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The impact force experienced in both scenarios would be the same if the collision time is the same. This is because the change in momentum (impulse) would be identical in both cases, assuming the car stops in both scenarios, leading to the same force experienced due to the impulse-momentum theorem.

Impulse-Momentum: Consider Two Less-Than-Desirable Options