Quote:
Originally Posted by DGthe3
No, it simulates 2 cars hitting each other at 120 mph. Or 1 car hitting a sturdy wall at 120 mph. The problem is that two cars (together) travelling at 60 would have half the kinetic energy of a single car at 120, despite the fact that their closing speed is 120 mph.
"For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction"
In this case, the 'action force' is a car hitting a solid object at 120 mph. The 'reaction force' would therefore be equal in magnitude but opposite in direction ... in other words, a car of equal mass going in the opposite direction at the same speed.
It is also extremely different from hitting a parked car. In that collision, momentum from the first car gets transferred to the 2nd. Usually it is some sort of glancing blow where the first car gets deflected while the 2nd car moves off in another direction, with both cars probably spinning. Both cars absorb a portion of the energy when the impact zone gets crushed, but not all of it.
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They did a segment on Mythbusters carefully measuring and testing that BUSTED the old saw that two cars hitting each other head on at X miles per hour is like hitting a solid wall going 2X miles per hour.