The discussion revolves around the concepts of force, momentum, and Newton's laws as they relate to a car crashing into a wall. Participants explore the implications of constant velocity, the nature of forces during a collision, and the interactions between the car and the wall. The scope includes conceptual clarification and technical reasoning regarding fundamental physics principles.
Participants express differing views on the implications of constant velocity and the nature of forces during a collision. There is no consensus on the understanding of these concepts, and the discussion remains unresolved regarding the nuances of force interactions in this scenario.
Participants highlight the complexity of force interactions and the limitations of idealized scenarios, such as the strength of materials and the engineering of vehicles. There are unresolved assumptions about the conditions under which forces are applied and the resulting effects on the car and wall.
The car is moving at constant velocity before it hits the wall. Once it hits the wall it is no longer moving at constant velocity--due to the force exerted on it by the wall.Bashyboy said:Okay, say a car is moving at a constant velocity and crashes into a wall. Now, observation would clearly illustrate to us that a destructive force was imparted onto the wall and the car. But how can that be if there there is no force, because there was a constant velocity? I must have some concept very misconstrued.
No. Newton's 3rd law tells you that regardless of what happens to the car, both car and wall will always exert equal and opposite forces on each other. If the force is too much for the structure of the car to withstand, it will get crushed.Bashyboy said:Say the car doesn't crush under the force the wall provides, is this because the frame of the car was able to exert a force that is exactly opposite?