Question

A van of mass 1800kg was moving at a velocity of 9m/s when it was involved in a head on collision with a butterfly moving in the opposite direction. What was the momentum of the van before the collision?if the van look 5 seconds to stop, what was the force acting on the driver?

Answer 1

Given data:

* The mass of the van is 1800 kg.

* The initial velocity of the van is 9m/s.

Solution:

The initial momentum of the van in the terms of the mass and the initial velocity is,

$p=mu$

where m is the mass of the van and u is the initial velocity,

Substituting the known values,

$\begin{gathered} p=1800\times9 \\ p=16200\text{ kgm/s} \end{gathered}$

Thus, the initial momentum of the van is 16200 kgm/s.

(b). The final velocity of the van is zero.

Then, the force acting to stop the van in 5 seconds is,

$\begin{gathered} F=\frac{p-0}{t} \\ F=\frac{16200}{5} \\ F=3240\text{ N} \end{gathered}$

Thus, the magnitude of the force acting to stop the van is 3240 N.