The Physics Behind Stunt Car Crashes

Stunt car A and stunt car B are identical cars with the same mass of 35.9 kg and are both traveling at 37.1 m/s. When Stunt car crashes into a hard concrete wall and Stunt car B crashes into a big soft mattress, they both come to a complete stop after the impact.

The possible answers are: Stunt Car A will experience a larger force over a shorter period resulting in more damage, while Stunt Car B will experience a smaller force over a longer period resulting in less damage. This is explained by the relationship of impulse to force and time.

Explanation: Stunt car A experiences a large force over a short period. Stunt car B experiences a small force over a long period. Because of the force experienced by Stunt Car A, it will sustain more damage than Stunt Car B.

The underlying principle is Newton's second law of motion, which indicates that the impulse delivered to an object (or in this case, the cars) is equal to the change in momentum of the object. The impulse is also equal to the force applied times the time for which it is applied (impulse = force x time). The longer the period over which a force acts, the smaller the force can be for the same change in momentum. The shorter the time, the larger the force must be.

This is why Stunt Car A, hitting a hard concrete wall, experiences a larger force over a short time, leading to more damage. Conversely, Stunt Car B hitting a soft mattress experiences a smaller force over a longer period, leading to less damage.