- #1
btbam91
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Say we have a platform with 4 legs attached. Attached to each leg is a small cushion.
If we drop our object of mass m a distance h, the small cushions compress completely in time t.
So we have variables: m,h,t
My analysis went has follows:
1. Energy conservation to find the max velocity the instant before our object hits the ground.
mgh = (1/2)mv^2
v = sqrt(2gh)
2. To find the impact force, set impulse equal to the change in momentum.
J = mv2 - mv1 = F*t
v2 = 0 because our object will stop when it is fully compressed, and v1 is the velocity calculated earlier.
F*t = -m*sqrt(2gh)
|F| = (m*sqrt(2gh))/t
3. In order to find the force in each leg...
|F| = (0.25)*(m*sqrt(2gh))/t
Is this correct?
Thanks for the help!
If we drop our object of mass m a distance h, the small cushions compress completely in time t.
So we have variables: m,h,t
My analysis went has follows:
1. Energy conservation to find the max velocity the instant before our object hits the ground.
mgh = (1/2)mv^2
v = sqrt(2gh)
2. To find the impact force, set impulse equal to the change in momentum.
J = mv2 - mv1 = F*t
v2 = 0 because our object will stop when it is fully compressed, and v1 is the velocity calculated earlier.
F*t = -m*sqrt(2gh)
|F| = (m*sqrt(2gh))/t
3. In order to find the force in each leg...
|F| = (0.25)*(m*sqrt(2gh))/t
Is this correct?
Thanks for the help!