Which would hurt more a water bottle or a frozen water bottle?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the comparative impact of a water bottle versus a frozen water bottle when thrown at someone, exploring the physical properties that contribute to the perceived pain from the impact. The scope includes conceptual reasoning and informal debate among participants.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant argues that a frozen water bottle would hurt more due to its solid state, while the opposing view suggests that a fully filled unfrozen bottle may have more mass.
  • Another participant introduces an analogy comparing the impact of a water bottle to an airbag and a frozen bottle to a steering wheel, suggesting that the deformation of the water bottle would result in a longer impact time and potentially less pain.
  • A later reply reiterates the idea of impact time, emphasizing that the solid nature of the ice bottle would lead to a shorter impact time and greater force upon contact.
  • One participant mentions a hypothetical scenario where the bottle does not compress, questioning how the weight of the water versus the solid ice would affect the impulse experienced upon impact.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on which type of bottle would cause more pain, with no consensus reached on the matter. Some support the idea that the frozen bottle is more painful, while others argue for the mass of the unfrozen bottle.

Contextual Notes

Participants reference concepts such as impact time, deformation, and impulse without resolving the underlying assumptions or definitions related to these terms.

FoxCommander
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Ok so me and my friends are having a debate about this and I would just like to prove once and for all that the Frozen water bottle would hurt worse.
His idea is that the unfrozen one, filled all the way to the top would have more mass than a frozen one filled to the rim.

Comments?
 
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Give him a choice between you throwing a large pillow at him, or you throwing a small rock. Of course, that only matters at some angles. I have a hard time imagining that the difference in mass is noticeable.
 
i know water isn't great at being compressed but surely the impact time of the water bottle will be longer as the bottle will deform and have a longer time in contact with your head (and so less pain), where as the ice bottle is solid and so the impact time will be shorter and therefore a greater impact. like comparing the air bag of a car (water bottle) with the steering wheel (ice bottle).

i think that makes sense...
 
It is obviously the frozen water bottle. Your friend (let's just call him James) is wrong.
 
Pheo1986 said:
i know water isn't great at being compressed but surely the impact time of the water bottle will be longer as the bottle will deform and have a longer time in contact with your head (and so less pain), where as the ice bottle is solid and so the impact time will be shorter and therefore a greater impact. like comparing the air bag of a car (water bottle) with the steering wheel (ice bottle).

i think that makes sense...

Yes that is correct, i was just trying to see how many people would agree with me. The other thing that my friend debated was that in a "perfect" world, the bottle wouldn't compress. (not sure exactly what he ment by perfect) So then the question would be since the bottle compressing has no more factor, would the water being heavier or the ice being solid have a greater impulse(impulse meaning time in contact with head*force)
 

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