Question4. A car moving at crashes into a tree and stops in 0.26 s . Calculate the force the seatbelt exerts on a passenger in the car to bring him to a halt. The mass of the passenger is 70 kg . Would the answer to this question be different if the car with the passenger had collided with a car that has a mass equal to and is traveling in the opposite direction and at the same speed?
Studdy Solution
STEP 1
What is this asking?
How much force does a seatbelt exert on a 70 kg person to stop them in 0.26 seconds from an initial speed of 10 m/s?
Also, would the force be different if the car hit another car head-on, both going the same speed?
Watch out!
Don't forget to consider *Newton's Laws* and how *impulse* relates to *momentum*!
STEP 2
1. Calculate the change in momentum.
2. Determine the impulse.
3. Calculate the force.
4. Analyze the car-on-car collision scenario.
STEP 3
Alright, let's **start** with the *momentum*!
Remember, momentum is how much "oomph" an object has when it's moving.
It's calculated as mass times velocity: .
STEP 4
The **initial momentum** of the passenger is \(70 \text{ kg} \cdot = \).
Since the passenger comes to a complete stop, their **final momentum** is *zero*!
STEP 5
So, the **change in momentum**, often written as , is \(0 \text{ kg} \cdot \text{m/s} - = \).
The negative sign just means the momentum *decreased*.
STEP 6
Now, let's talk about *impulse*!
Impulse is the change in momentum, and it's equal to the force applied multiplied by the time it's applied for: .
STEP 7
We already know the **change in momentum** is , and we know the time the force is applied is **0.26 seconds**.
STEP 8
Now we can **solve for the force**: .
STEP 9
Plugging in our values, we get .
The negative sign indicates the force is in the *opposite direction* of the initial motion, which makes sense since the seatbelt is *stopping* the passenger.
STEP 10
Now, what if the car hit another car head-on, both going the same speed?
The change in momentum for the passenger would still be the same, assuming they still come to a stop in the same amount of time.
STEP 11
Since the change in momentum and the time are the same, the force exerted by the seatbelt would *also* be the same!
It doesn't matter *what* the car crashes into, only how quickly the passenger's momentum changes.
STEP 12
The force the seatbelt exerts on the passenger is approximately .
The force would be the *same* if the car collided head-on with another car of equal mass and speed.
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