Calculating Car Speed from Kinetic Energy: A Helpful Guide"

[Probie]

Homework Statement

This is not homework, I am too old for school. I am trying to teach myself accident reconstruction. The equation I have for impact utilizes crush points. The crush points reveals an energy of 479609.6 to crush the car, so what I am trying to figure out is the speed of the car in km/h.. Any help with this is appreciated greatly, thank you.

Is it possible to find km/h from K.E

Homework Equations

I know that KE = .5mv²

let's say the mass = 1165 kg and the K.E = 479609.6

The Attempt at a Solution

411.682 = 479609.6 / 1165

20.289 = sqr (479609.6)

10.144 m/s² = 20.289 / 2

36.532 km/h = 10.144 / .2777

 

[kamerling]

It's better to do the problem with variables, and not substitute values until the end.

start with E = (1/2)mv^2 and solve for v. Then put in the numbers.

I can't really tell what you're calculating here. You never use your first intermediate result, and the end result is wrong.

you need to supply units for the Kinetic Energy. I suppose they are Joules?

 

[Chi Meson]

Close. Notice the way I worked through the information. You gave yourself a bit of extra work by solving each little piece bit by bit. Somewhere you dropped a number.


K= 479,600 joules (additional digits are insignificant here)
m= 1165 kg

K= .5 mv² v=√(2K/m)
v=√(2•479,000 J/1165 kg)= 28.69 m/s = 103.3 km/h

 

[Probie]

Thank you very much Chi Meson, I was not even close, man did I make a mess. I really appreciate you pointing me in the right direction. Now that I see how it is done, I will not forget this lesson. Thanks again ~ Probie

 

[Probie]

This thread can be marked as solved. Thank you very much again Chi Meson. You people are the greatest in the world. Thanks.