Question

A 75,000 N weight truck hits the rear bumper of the 15,000 N weight car at a stop light. What is the ratio of the collision force the truck puts on the car compared to the force the car puts on the truck?

A. 5:1
B. 2:1
C. 3:1
D. 1:1

Answer 1

D. 1:1

Step-by-step explanation:

We can solve the problem by applying Newton's third law, which states that:

"When an object A exerts a force on another object B (action), object B exerts an equal and opposite force (called reaction) on object A"

In this problem, we can identify object A as the truck and object B as the car. If we apply Newton's third law, we can say that when the truck exerts a force on the car (action), then the car exerts an equal and opposite force (reaction) on the car.

This means that the two forces (action-reaction) have same magnitude and opposite direction. Therefore, the ratio between the two forces is:

1 : 1