Question

The magnitude of the net force versus time graph has a rectangular shape. Often in physics geometric properties of graphs have physical meaning. True or false

Answer 1

True

Step-by-step explanation:

In this particular case, the area of the graph represents the impulse.

In fact, impulse is defined as the change in momentum of an object:

`I=\Delta p`

Moreover, impulse is also defined as the product between the magnitude of the force acting on an object and the duration of the collision:

`I=F\Delta t`

If we plot a graph of the force versus the time, if the force is constant then this graph will have a rectangular shape, and the area under the graph will simply be the product

`F\cdot \Delta t`

which corresponds to the definition of impulse.