Crash test dummies don't always wear seat belts.

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around the physics of crash test dummies and the forces experienced during collisions. The original poster presents a scenario involving a 78 kg dummy in a car traveling at 53 km/h hitting a concrete barrier, seeking to determine the force applied to the dummy.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Problem interpretation

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants question the sufficiency of the provided information, particularly the lack of details regarding how quickly the dummy comes to rest. There are inquiries about whether the other related problems utilize similar formulas and what additional information might be necessary.

Discussion Status

Some participants have noted that the problems appear to involve impulse and momentum concepts, but they express uncertainty due to missing information. There is recognition that the impulse problems may require specific details such as time to solve effectively.

Contextual Notes

Participants highlight that the absence of time data for the dummy's deceleration complicates the calculation of force. Additionally, they mention that the other problems presented may also share similar constraints regarding information needed for resolution.

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Crash test dummies don't always wear seat belts. If a 78 Kg dummy, in a car traveling at 53 Km/h, hits a concrete barrier, what is the force applied to the dummy?
 
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You don't have enough information. How quickly does the dummy come to rest?
 
what other info should I look for?

I don't have any additional info; just the 3 other questions from the page...do they all use the same type of formula?? what other info should I look for?

1. What acceleration does Chris give his 0.48 kg Physics book, when he accidentally knocks it off a table with an impulse of 2.3 Ns?

2. A force of 3420 N is applied to a 145 g baseball. If the baseball approaches the batter at 41.3 m/s and leaves at 44.2 m/s, how long was the bat in contact with the ball?

#3: crash test dummies ?. {If a 78 kg dummy, in a car traveling at 53 Km/h, hits a concrete barrier, what is the magnitude of the force applied to the dummy?}

4. How much force is applied to a 76 kg man’s legs when he jumps off a table 1.0 m above the floor, if it takes 0.11 s for him to stop? (HINT: Remember your kinematic equations.)
 
Last edited:
Would it be this calc??
Units of Momentum and Impulse
Impulse, being the product of force and time, has units Ns. Momentum, we discovered this morning, has units of kgm/s. Since our equation states that changes in momentum are equal to the applied impulse, it follows that Ns must be equivalent to kgm/s. However, by convention, when talking about momentum we will always express our answers in units of kgm/s and when talking about impulse we will always use Ns.
Calculations using the Momentum-Impulse Theorem
Example:
What is the force applied to a 6.56 kg bowling ball that is taken from rest to a speed of 1.16 m/s in 1.31 s?
In this problem, we are given the following information:
m = 6.56 kg
vi = 0 m/s
vf = 1.16 m/s
t = 1.31 s
and need to find the force. We can rearrange F t = mv, to get
F = mv/t
Remembering that v in this case represents the change in velocity, we can substitute to get:
F = 6.56 kg • (1.16 – 0 m/s) / 1.31 s
F = 5.81 kg • m/s/s (three significant figures)
But, 1 kg ? m/s/s equals a Newton (N), our standard unit of force, so we would express our final answer as:
F = 5.81 N
 
jillz said:
I don't have any additional info; just the 3 other questions from the page...do they all use the same type of formula?? what other info should I look for?
Looks like these are impulse problems: I \equiv F\Delta t = \Delta (mv)

1. What acceleration does Chris give his 0.48 kg Physics book, when he accidentally knocks it off a table with an impulse of 2.3 Ns?
Insufficient information provided. You're given the impulse but not the time. The same impulse can be given quickly (high acceleration) or slowly (low acceleration).

2. A force of 3420 N is applied to a 145 g baseball. If the baseball approaches the batter at 41.3 m/s and leaves at 44.2 m/s, how long was the bat in contact with the ball?
You have all the needed information.

#3: crash test dummies ?. {If a 78 kg dummy, in a car traveling at 53 Km/h, hits a concrete barrier, what is the magnitude of the force applied to the dummy?}
Insufficient information provided. Again, no time is given.

4. How much force is applied to a 76 kg man’s legs when he jumps off a table 1.0 m above the floor, if it takes 0.11 s for him to stop? (HINT: Remember your kinematic equations.)
You have all the needed information.
 

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