10/18/2014 How to calculate impact force in the simplest way?

https://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090116013203AAh9YEw 1/2
Science & Mathematics > Physics Next
How to calculate impact force in the
simplest way?
For example a car (weighing 500 kg) hits a concrete wall at a
constant speed of 30 km/hr. What is the impact force when it hits the
wall?
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Best Answer
Trevor H answered 6 years ago
From the information you have provided, this is not possible. You need
to know one of two things. 1) after hitting the wall, how long did it take
the car to stop.
2) After hitting the wall, over what distance did the car take to stop.
Once you have this info, you work out the acceleration in stopping, and
then the force according to Newton's second Law.
For instance: Say it takes the car 2 seconds to come to a stop after
hitting the wall. The car has slowed down from 30km/hr to zero velocity
in a time of 2 seconds. What is the acceleration?
30km/hr = 8.333m/s
Use the equation:
V = u + at
0 = 8.333 + a*2
2a = -8.333
a = - 4.167m/s
Notice that the acceleration calculates as negative, which confirms that
the car is slowing down.
Now calculate the force, from equation:
F = mass * acceleration
Force = 500*-4.167
Force = -2083.33N
The force is 2083.33N in the opposite direction to which the car is
travelling.
Alternatively, if you have the distance in which the car stopped:
Say it stops in 0.25m
Calculate acceleration from equation:
V = U + 2*a*s
0 =69.44 + 2* a * 0.25
0.5a = -69.44
a = -138.88m/s
Force = mass *accelertaion
force = 500* -138.88
Force = -69,438.9N
The force was 69,438.9N in the opposite direction to which the car is
travelling.
Note that the results ae not the same, because we are dealing with two
different examples.
We have calculated the force that the concrete wall exerts on the car to
stop it. From Newton 111, the force that the car exerts on the wall (the
impact force) is the same in magnitude, but opposite in direction.
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10/18/2014 How to calculate impact force in the simplest way?
https://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090116013203AAh9YEw 2/2
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How to calculate impact force in the simplest way?
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