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What's the difference between Force, Impulse and Force of Impact? (self.askscience)

submitted 1 year ago by spez to c/[email protected]

4 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I was dealing with a problem which stated that two objects were moving with same velocity v and one was a car with mass m and another a truck with mass M, such that M > m. They collided and came to a halt. Their collision lasted for 1 second. Which experienced a greater force of impact?

After searching a little bit everyone seems to have a different equation for force of Impact. What's really force of impact and how is it different from force and Impulse? Thanks!

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Trick question.

Newton's 3rd law applies. Both vehicles experienced an equal force of impact because it is implied there were no other relevant external forces, but their individual accelerations will be different.

[–] FlembleFabber 2 points 1 year ago

Yeah so the passengers in the smaller car would still be more fucked but the forces are the same. Yay physics

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

After searching a little bit everyone seems to have a different equation for force of Impact.

Since it sounds like this is for a class, you should probably find the equation that is given in your textbook/class notes.

[–] spez 1 points 1 year ago

In the newer editions it's removed. On the older ones there's no introduction of "impact force". Maybe it's just impulse they are talking about. Thanks for taking the time!