A large truck and a car, both moving with a velocity of magnitude v, have a head-on collision and both of them come to a halt after that. If the collision lasts for 1 s:
(a) Which vehicle experiences the greater force of impact?
(b) Which vehicle experiences the greater change in momentum?
(c) Which vehicle experiences the greater acceleration?
(d) Why is the car likely to suffer more damage than the truck?

Question

A large truck and a car, both moving with a velocity of magnitude v, have a head-on collision and both of them come to a halt after that. If the collision lasts for 1 s:
(a) Which vehicle experiences the greater force of impact?
(b) Which vehicle experiences the greater change in momentum?
(c) Which vehicle experiences the greater acceleration?
(d) Why is the car likely to suffer more damage than the truck?

Philoid · Accepted Answer

(a) Since, the action force and reaction force are equal and opposite, both the vehicles experience the same impact of force after the collision.

(b) Both the vehicles will experience equal change in momentum because the change in momentum of truck is equal and opposite to the change in momentum of car.

(c) We can see that the force on each vehicle is the same but the mass of car is smaller than that of the truck, therefore, the car experiences the greater acceleration or greater retardation.

(d) Since the mass of the car is less than that of the truck, therefore, the car will be suffering greater damage during the collision than the truck (The car has greater retardation than the truck).