Question about how collisions deal with force.

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In collisions, momentum is crucial for determining post-collision velocities, but understanding the forces involved is complex. The force experienced by an object, like a wall, during a collision depends on the change in momentum, which is influenced by the mass and velocity of the colliding object. Since acceleration is often not constant or linear during a collision, calculating the exact force can be challenging. However, the relationship between momentum and force remains central to analyzing collisions. Ultimately, momentum provides a comprehensive framework for understanding collision dynamics.
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Well, I know we use momentum to determine the velocities after a collision, but what about forces. Say a 1000kg car going at 20 m/s hits a wall with a mass of 500kg. What determines how much force the wall will experience by the car if there is no acceleration in the horizontal direction? Only velocity and mass.
 
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zeromodz said:
What determines how much force the wall will experience by the car if there is no acceleration in the horizontal direction? Only velocity and mass.
There is always a force if there is a change in momentum. The problem with determining the forces in collisions is that the acceleration is not constant or even linear in most cases .The cool thing is that you can find just about everything you want to know about a collision using momentum
 

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