Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Force and Time

Does the FORCE (impulsive force) acting on a car during a collision depend on the time of impact only?
The SPM Physics syllabus seems to suggest this. It does not mention the change in momentum of the car.






From Equation 1 and Equation 2, it is clear that the impulsive force depends on the change of momentum and the time of impact. In SPM Physics, it is often stated that the impulsive force is inversely proportional to the time of impact WITHOUT stating that this is only true in situations where the change of momentum remains the same.

We should take note of this when we teach about impulsive force and time of impact.

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