Question

A 60-kg person is traveling in a car moving at 16 m/s, when the car hits a barrier. The person is not wearing a seat belt, but is stopped by an air bag in a time interval of 0.20 s. Determine the average force that the air bag exerts on the person?

Answer 1

Using conservation of momentum, we can solve for the force that the air bag exerts on the person.

Recall the equation for momentum (p):


`p = mv = F*dt`

We can solve for total momentum, then divide by out time interval. This gets us:


`(60kg)(16m/s) = F(0.2s) F = 4800N`

F = 4800N