Question

A car moving at 5.73 m/s with a mass of 1,176 kg runs into a brick wall. If the car comesto rest over 19.9x10^-3 s during the collision, what is the force of the wall on the car?

Answer 1

$\begin{gathered} u=5.73\text{ m/s} \\ m=1176\text{ kg} \\ t=19.9\times10^{-3}s \end{gathered}$

The car starts with a velocity of 5.73 m/s. Upon colliding with the brick wall it ends with a velocity of 0 m/s. The car's exact force in the direction of the wall but the brick wall which is static also exact an equal force back. Therefore,

$\begin{gathered} F=ma \\ F=m\frac{(5.73-0)}{19.9\times10^{-3}} \\ F=1176\times\frac{5.73}{19.9\times10^{-3}} \\ F=1176\times287.939698492 \\ F=338617.085427 \\ F=338617.09N \end{gathered}$