Is a Wall Considered a Rigid or Non-Rigid Body?

[Fiona Rozario]

Is a wall rigid body or a non-rigid body? As per definition, a rigid body does not change any inter-molecular space on application of force but moves. But a wall does neither. So what is it - rigid or non-rigid?

 

[D H]

There is no such thing as a truly rigid body. However, there are many, many times where the difference between treating an object as a rigid body and treating the body as non-rigid (and performing a full-blown finite element analysis of the contact) is minimal. This makes the rigid body assumption a very useful assumption.