3 ms·
Velocity is squared so yes that part matters more. Your extreme example is an edge case, sure, but not realistic. But overall, momentum is the force applied.
by nemo44x 4y ago
Velocity is squared so yes that part matters more. Your extreme example is an edge case, sure, but not realistic. But overall, momentum is the force applied.
- yibg 4y agoThat doesn’t sound right. A 1mph train hitting you won’t kill you, it’ll just push you along. The sudden acceleration of all or parts of your body is important.
- nemo44x 4y agoStand there for a few seconds or minutes. It’s what glaciers did. They travelled far slower than 1mph and took out mountains. I don’t make the physics, I just live with them.
- paulryanrogers 4y agoRight but you assume the person would be stupid enough to plant their feet and get slowly dragged under the train. Reaction time drops sharply as MPH increases.
- yibg 4y agoUnlike mountains, people are not nailed to the ground waiting to be carved out, they move when they get pushed by a slow but massive object. Only a tiny amount of the train's momentum will get transferred to the person, roughly 1mph x mass of the person worth.
- ironmagma 4y agop = mv, so in momentum velocity is simply linear. It's in KE = 1/2 * m * v^2 that has the square (kinetic energy).