- #1
Kevin Krock
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Homework Statement
During the head on collision of a 1500kg car moving 20 m/s and a 2400 kg truck moving 12.5 m/s does the car move farther than, a shorter distance than, the same distance as the truck, or is this indeterminate with the given information.
Homework Equations
m1(v1)+m2(v2)=(m1+v1)vf=0
average acceleration of car = 20/t
average acceleration of truck = 12.5/t
The Attempt at a Solution
the final velocity of both cars is 0 m/s. So if the duration of the collision is .5 seconds, then the average acceleration of the car is 40 m/s^2 and the truck is 24 m/s^2. the area under the graph -40x+20 (the velocity of the car) is 5 m. the area under the graph -24x+12.5 (velocity of truck) is 3.25 m. So this would mean the car travels a greater distance. My gut says that the car moves the same distance as the truck but that is not an adequate explanation for my professor. How do I calculate this??