How Do You Calculate Energy Needed to Break Safety Glass?

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on calculating the kinetic energy (KE) required to break through single pane safety glass using a real-life scenario involving a 1 kg rock. The calculated KE before impact was determined to be 66.15 joules, with an additional 6.27 joules accounted for air friction, totaling 72.47 joules after the glass broke. The tensile strength of the safety glass was estimated between 120 to 200 N/mm², and the user successfully calculated the energy needed to break the glass by determining the area of impact and applying the tensile strength to find the work done.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of kinetic energy calculations
  • Familiarity with tensile strength concepts
  • Basic knowledge of physics equations related to force and work
  • Ability to convert units (e.g., inches to mm)
NEXT STEPS
  • Research "Kinetic Energy Calculations in Physics" for foundational knowledge
  • Study "Tensile Strength of Materials" to understand material properties
  • Learn about "Work-Energy Principle" to apply in similar scenarios
  • Explore "Impact Force Calculations" for real-world applications in safety engineering
USEFUL FOR

Students in physics, engineers involved in material science, and anyone interested in understanding the dynamics of impact forces and material failure.

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Homework Statement


This happened in real life, rock breaks through single pane safety glass and travels 9 meters, safety glass is 3 meters high. rock was 1 kg. I need to find the rough KE before the rock hit the glass. The MPa of the glass i am guessing is 50, google has yielded me little on the MPa of single pane safety glass.

So after calculations the rocks KE was 66.15 joules and after incorporating F=.65*A*v^2 (I guestimated A) as negative energy done, i got 72.47 J of KE right after glass broke. How do i find energy needed to break the 50 MPa singe pane mylar coated safety glass. I have no idea whatsoever on how to do this. I then can add this to the 72.47 J and get KE before impact. Answer is due in 12 hours, never have done anything like this. He wants us to learn from our community so we can become better at working with other people. He says our answers are going to vary greatly because its real world and too many variables we had to guestimate independently on. He just wants us to arrive at a logical answer.

Homework Equations



No clue, never attempted, learned, or saw anything like this.

The Attempt at a Solution



well i calculated time it took to fall, then velocity from that, then KE from frictionless environment which was about 66.15 J then i added the KE that the air friction which was 6.27J and i added them together so i have 72.47 J of energy right after glass breaks. If i can find the energy required to break the glass i can add that to my 72.47J and then i will have the KE just before impact, which is what i am looking for.
 
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i just found the tensile strength roughly of safety glass and it is 120 to 200 N/sq .mm. How do i find the energy required to break through that?
 
Last edited:
bah i figured it out i said the rock had a radius of 3 inches converted that into mm^2 and multiplied by 120 to get N then * that by 6 mm to get work done over that interval and then added my previous result.
 

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