Problem 4.12

Please wait for the animation to completely load.

A large 2000-kg truck and a small compact car collide head-on as shown in the animation (position is given in meters and time is given in seconds).  Assume the collision takes place in 0.05 seconds.  Restart. 

1. Describe the force on each vehicle before, during, and after the collision.  Be sure to estimate the magnitudes of these forces and give their directions. 
2. Which vehicle, the car or the truck, experiences the greater force during the collision?

Instructor's Resource CD Edition: Do not post or distribute.
The complete version of Physlet Physics is available as a text with CD; Physlet Physics can be bundled with this Prentice Hall textbook.
© 2004 by Prentice-Hall, Inc. A Pearson Company