Question

A 61 kg person is in a head-on collision. The car's speed at impact is 14 m/s. Estimate the net force on the person if he or she is wearing a seat belt and if the air bag deploys.

Answer 1

Explanation:

It is known that the relation between force and acceleration is as follows.

                F = -ma ............ (1)

Also,    acceleration (a) = $\frac{v^{2} - u^{2}}{2s}$ ......... (2)

The given data is as follows.

                 v = 0,          u = 14 m/s,    s = 1

Therefore, putting the values of expression (2) into expression (1) as follows.

                F = $-m \times \frac{v^{2} - u^{2}}{2s}$

                   = $-61 kg \times \frac{(0)^{2} - (14)^{2}}{2 \times 1}$

                   = 5978 N

thus, we can conclude that net force on the person if he or she is wearing a seat belt and if the air bag deploys is 5978 N.