Two Identical Car Accidents: Which is More Dangerous?

[mcneilmo]

Suppose you are a police investigator and are investigating two car accidents. Before you even go to either accident scene, you know (interestingly) that both accidents were identical head – on collisions with identical cars moving at identical speeds, but in one case the cars locked bumpers while in the other case they bounced off each other elastically. From a physics point of view, which accident is more dangerous? Please explain.

 

[tiny-tim]

welcome to pf!

hi mcneilmo! welcome to pf!

tell us what you think, and then we'll comment!