It's a pretty simple question but it's been racking my brain. Say I

[The_Beast]

It's a pretty simple question but it's been racking my brain. Say I wanted to build a shock-proof computer case, would I want it to be heavy or light? My though is that it should be heavy.


If I kicked a 1Kg case with 1000 Newtons of force the case and components would accelerate are 1000m/s^2

If I kicked a 1000Kg case with the same 1000 Newtons of force the case and components would accelerate at 1m/s^2


So am I correct in saying that the case should be heavy?

 

[AJ Bentley]

Your analysis is correct.

The best sort of shock-absorbing case for anything is a really heavy one, with the protected items held inside by shock-absorbing, flexible material.

 

[The_Beast]

Your analysis is correct.

The best sort of shock-absorbing case for anything is a really heavy one, with the protected items held inside by shock-absorbing, flexible material.

Ok thanks for the help but one more hypothetical If you dropped the cases from equal distances, all/most the force would be transferred to the ground and not the computer components since they would accelerate and decelerate at the same rate (gravity)

 

[AJ Bentley]

No.

You have to think of it like this:-
If you drop an object it will always fall at the same speed, you can't do anything about that.
When it hits the ground it suffers damaging forces because it is decelerated suddenly (and F=ma).
All you can do it to reduce the deceleration somehow. And the only way to do that is to give it room to decelerate more slowly. By suspending it inside a case with cushioning, the moment the case touches the ground the cushioning applies a gentle force to the object, slowing it - hopefully it will be slowed gently to zero before it hits the side of the case.

 

[The_Beast]

OK say the cases are exactly the same in every single way, except the massThe force of the 1000Kg case hitting the ground (10,000N) would be much greater than the force of the 1Kg case hitting the ground (10N). But would the force being exerted on the computer components be the same since they would have the same mass?

 

[AJ Bentley]

Exactly.
And that would suggest there's no advantage to a heavy case?
But being dropped is not the only accident that can happen.

 

[The_Beast]

Exactly.
And that would suggest there's no advantage to a heavy case?
But being dropped is not the only accident that can happen.

Exactly, I don't see myself lifting, much less dropping a 1000Kg case, hehe. It would be much more likely to be kicked or knocked over.


Thanks for the confirmation of my thoughts

 

[K^2]

Yeah, if you drop it, the mass cancels out from all considerations. But in all other situations it does help to have a heavy case.

The perfect solution would probably be a light case to which everything is attached inside a heavy case with shock-absorbent material in between.

 

[The_Beast]

Does Newtons third law come into play? The case exerts a force of 10,000N on the ground and the ground exerts -10,000N on the case, but does that ever matter(considering force normal)?