Question

In a study of momentum during collisions, a student threw an egg at a large sheet of cloth that was suspended from a line and observed that the egg did not break during the collision. A second egg, thrown with similar force at a suspended concrete block, did break on impact. Why did the first egg survive the collision while the second egg did not survive?.

Answer 1

From the law of conservation of momentum, the first egg did not break because it forward momentum is transferred to the cloth while the second egg broke, the block exerts an opposite force equal to the momentum of the egg on the egg.

Momentum

Momentum is the product of the mass of an object and its velocity of motion.

The law of conservation of momentum states that the momentum of an isolated system of colliding bodies is conserved.

When an egg is thrown on a large sheet of cloth suspended, the egg does not break because the momentum of the egg is transferred to the cloth as it is depressed.

However, a second egg, thrown with similar force at a suspended concrete block, did break on impact because the block does not move forward, instead it exerts an equal but opposite force on the egg resulting in the egg breaking.

Therefore, from the law of conservation of momentum, the first egg did not break because it forward momentum is transferred to the cloth while the second egg broke, the block exerts an opposite force equal to the momentum of the egg on the egg.

Learn more about momentum at: brainly.com/question/7538238