The Science Behind Car Crashes

The video explores the physics behind car crashes, focusing on concepts like inertia, momentum, impulse, and kinetic energy. It explains how these principles affect vehicle safety and crash outcomes. The importance of crashworthiness and advancements in safety testing are highlighted, emphasizing the role of physics in improving vehicle safety and reducing injuries.

What does a vehicle's 'crumple zone' do?

• Increases the vehicle's speed

• Increases the impact force

• Absorbs and dissipates crash forces

• Prevents the vehicle from stopping

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What property of matter causes it to resist any change in its state of motion?

• Inertia

• Friction

• Momentum

• Gravity

According to Newton's first law of motion, what will a body in motion do unless acted upon by an external force?

• Change direction

• Stop immediately

• Continue moving at the same speed

• Accelerate

Why are seat belts important during a crash?

• They increase the body's momentum

• They tie the body to the vehicle, slowing it down with the vehicle

• They help the body accelerate

• They increase the force on the body

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What does the formula F=ma represent?

• Impulse

• Momentum

• Newton's second law of motion

• Inertia

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Which has the same momentum: an 80,000 pound big rig traveling 2 mph or a 4,000 pound SUV traveling 40 mph?

• Both have the same momentum

• The SUV

• The big rig

• Neither, as they cannot be compared

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What is the product of force and the time during which the force acts called?

• Velocity

• Momentum

• Acceleration

• Impulse

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What does the conservation of momentum principle state about the total momentum before and after a collision?

• It decreases after a collision

• It increases after a collision

• It remains unchanged

• It is not conserved in any collision

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What is the primary advantage of a heavier vehicle in a crash?

• Better fuel efficiency

• Higher momentum

• Advantage in a crash with another vehicle

• Faster acceleration

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What does kinetic energy depend on?

• Mass and velocity

• Mass and color

• Weight and height

• Volume and speed

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