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Re: momentum

On Thu, 01 Jul 1999 10:40:30 -0400 Henry Kuhlman <hk@SOUTHERN.EDU>
writes:
In the Cover Story of the Wed 30 June 99 USA Today, Edward Moeller, a
traffic engineer is quoted, "If you are driving 35 and hit someone
coming at you at 35, it's the equivilent of hitting a tree at 70."

Any hope of correcting this WRONG PHYSICS?

There is life, there is always hope. Hopefully, someone has already
wirtten a letter to the editor of US Today and sent a short article to
The Physics Teacher about the article. Hopefully, someone
has also contacted Edward Moeller, the traffic engineer to find out
if he had been correctly quoted. Hopefully, an author of
a physics textbook will include this item as an end-chapter
question is his ( or her???) next book or updating revision.

But, let's consider what assumptions we would , or would not,
have to make to answer to such a question.

1. Do we assume that the tree is a 1,000 year old California
Redwood with a trunk over 2 feet in diameter... .....
or a is it a Maple seedling having a trunk diameter that is less
than an inch?

2. Do we assume that both drivers are driving identical
cars with non-crushable front ends, ............
or is one are driving a 20 ton truck and the
person "coming at you at 35" is on a bicycle?

Herb Gottlieb from New York City
(Where we measure the height of our buildings with a barometer)