3 ms·
Hmm, wouldn't a car of the same mass going the same speed joust counteract all the force exactly? If one of the cars had half as much mass, wouldn't that lesse
by kbenson 8y ago
Hmm, wouldn't a car of the same mass going the same speed joust counteract all the force exactly? If one of the cars had half as much mass, wouldn't that lessen the impact of the larger car and increase it for the smaller car, as the combined center of gravity afterwards would be moving inthe direction the larger car was traveling?
It's been far too long since I had a physics class...
- maxander 8y agoWell, maybe we're using different terms- as the article notes, there's technically no such thing as a "such-and-such speed impact." I was speaking in terms of how much kinetic energy is liable to go towards damaging the cars involved (or into the fireball of a particle collision); in that case, if you have X energy in two cars, or 2X energy in one and 0 in the other, the sum is the same. If we consider debris or etc flying away after the collision, then you're right that they're different- the combined velocity of the two cars is 0mph in the both-moving case and 140mph (in some direction) in the one-moving case, and the velocity of all the debris will sum to that velocity. (And the sum of velocities would be weighted appropriately if one of the cars was more massive than the other.)
- auslander 8y agoOn a side note, if a massive 4wd heads-on collides with Corolla, the 4wd guy will have scratches and bruises, Corolla people would not suffer, instant death. Choosing a car, choose tons, not stars :)
- saagarjha 8y agoIt's a sad reality that just makes the road less safe for everyone and hurts the environment :(