Question

Two cars are driving at 25 mph and one of them hits a brick wall and stops immediately. The other one runs into a pile of old beanbag chairs and slowly comes to a stop. Which one has the greater

Answer 1

The one that hits the wall.

Step-by-step explanation

We want to identify the situation in which there is a greater impulse.

The impulse of an object is given as a change in its momentum.

Mathematically, it is given as:

`\Delta p=F\Delta t`

where F = force

Δt = change in time

As we can see, impulse depends on the impact force and the amount of time that the force is applied.

This means that if a collision takes a longer time to occur, the force acting on the object is much smaller compared to a situation where the collision takes a short time to occur.

If the force acting on the object is smaller, it, therefore, implies that the impulse will also be lesser.

Hence, the car that hits the wall will have a greater impulse than the one that hits the beanbag chairs, since that collision took a longer time to occur.