A police offer may warn that “speed kills.” In video games, high-speed crashes are common. Suppose a particular scene in a game required the following elements:
• a high performance motorcycle must crash into a barrier and be stopped
• a small scooter must crash into another section of the same barrier and be stopped
• the forces exerted as each vehicle collides with the barrier change the shape of that section of the barrier in addition to stopping the vehicle
• the time required to stop each vehicle must be realistic
In a paragraph, explain how you could use the concept of momentum and net force to make each simulated crash realistic. In general, how could you use momentum and Newton's laws of motion to predict the amount that each section of the barrier changes shape?
2 answers