Bug on windshield- Newtons laws applied

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Slide 1

On the highway of life, are you the bug or the windshield?

Slide 2

Bug hits windshield

Slide 3

Bug hits windshield

Slide 4

The force on each is…

The same- Newtons third law You can only exert back as much force is exerted on you

Slide 5

The time of impact is…

The same- It would be impossible for the bug to hit the windshield for 2 seconds while the windshield hits the bug for 3 seconds

Slide 6

The change of velocity on each is…

Very Different – The car, hardly noticeable. The bug very noticeable. The bug slows down, stops and reverses direction

Slide 7

The momentum before and after…

The same – momentum is conserved in a collision

Slide 8

What about a BIGGER BUG?

Slide 9

The force on each is…

The same- Newtons third law You can only exert back as much force is exerted on you

Slide 10

The time of impact is…

The same- It would be impossible for the bug to hit the windshield for 2 seconds while the windshield hits the bug for 3 seconds

Slide 11

The change of velocity on each is…

Slightly Different – The car, slows down noticeably, The bug slows down stops and reverses direction

Slide 12

So Why Does the bug go splat, but a windshield doesn’t

Slide 13

Its only a Small force when a bug hits the windshield

It only takes a small force to kill a bug. That same size force won’t hurt the windshield

Slide 14

The difference, the size of the force impulse and momentum,

the small bug, the less force,impulse,change in momentum, the bigger the bug the more of each

Slide 15

What if the bug is the same mass and same speed as a car?