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momentum transfer



If two identical cars of mass M traveling at speed V have head-on collision and come
to rest in time T, the average force on each car is MV/T.

If a car of mass M traveling at speed 2V strikes a large immovable tree and comes to
rest in time T', the average force on that car 2MV/T'.

If the stopping times T and T' are the same the average force on the car traveling at 2V
appears to me to be twice as great as the average force on each of the cars in the first
case.

To say the average force are the same looks like an error in physics to me.


Mike

===============================================================
Mike Moloney http://www.rose-hulman.edu/~moloney
moloney@nextwork.rose-hulman.edu
Dept of Physics & Applied Optics (812) 877 8302
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Terre Haute, IN 47803