A heavy truck and a small car collide head-on. Before the collision they are going the same speed. Which of the following statements is true? (when I talk about the force and acceleration here I am talking about the *magnitude* -- don't worry about the direction, it's just what you think it should be).
The small car experiences a greater force than the truck and a greater acceleration.
The small car experiences the same force as the truck but a greater acceleration.
The small car experiences the same force and same acceleration as the truck.
The small car experiences a smaller force than the truck because it is smaller, but has the same acceleration.
The small car experiences a smaller force than the truck because it is smaller, but has a greater acceleration.
I do not know which answer it is and why
To determine which statement is true, let's consider the concept of force and acceleration.
Force is a push or pull acting on an object that can cause it to accelerate. It is directly related to the mass and acceleration of an object through Newton's second law of motion, which states that force (F) equals mass (m) multiplied by acceleration (a), or F = m * a.
Acceleration is the rate at which the velocity of an object changes. It is directly related to the force acting on the object through Newton's second law. The larger the force applied to an object, the greater its acceleration will be if the mass remains constant.
Now, let's think about the collision between the heavy truck and the small car. Before the collision, both vehicles are traveling at the same speed. This means their velocities are equal. However, their masses are likely to be different, with the heavy truck having a larger mass and the small car having a smaller mass.
When the vehicles collide head-on, they experience a force acting on them due to the impact. Since both vehicles initially have the same speed, the force experienced by each vehicle will depend on their masses.
According to Newton's second law (F = m * a), if the speed (velocity) is the same for both vehicles, the smaller mass of the car will result in a smaller force compared to the larger mass of the truck. This means the small car experiences a smaller force than the truck because it is smaller.
Regarding acceleration, since the force experienced by the small car is smaller, and mass remains constant, the small car will experience a greater acceleration than the truck according to Newton's second law.
Therefore, the statement that is true is: The small car experiences a smaller force than the truck because it is smaller, but has a greater acceleration.