Momentum & Safety Features (Edexcel IGCSE Physics)

Momentum & safety features

• Since force is equal to the rate of change in momentum, the force of an impact in a vehicle collision can be decreased by increasing the contact time over which the collision occurs

  • The contact time is the time in which the person is in contact with what they have collided with

• Therefore, safety features are created to reduce the impact of a force, such as in:

  • Vehicles

  • Playgrounds

  • Bicycle helmets

  • Gymnasium crashmats

Safety features in vehicles

• Vehicle safety features are designed to absorb energy upon an impact by changing shape

• The main vehicle safety features are crumple zones, seat belts and airbags

  • For a given force upon impact, these absorb the energy from the impact and increase the time over which the force takes place

  • This, in turn, increases the time taken for the change in momentum of the passenger and the vehicle to come to rest

  • The increased time reduces the force and risk of injury on a passenger

• The usefulness of safety features depends on two main factors: mass and velocity

• If the impact is from a large mass, for example, a truck travelling very fast and colliding with a wall, the momentum will be very large

  • The change in momentum (ie. from a high speed to rest) will also be very large

  • This means that a very long contact time is needed to reduce the force of impact

Safety features on a car

The seat belt, airbag and crumple zones help reduce the risk of injury on a passenger

• Seat belts

  • These are designed to stop a passenger from colliding with the interior of a vehicle by keeping them fixed to their seat in an abrupt stop

  • They are designed to stretch slightly to increase the time for the passenger’s momentum to reach zero and reduce the force on them in a collision

• Airbags

  • These are deployed at the front on the dashboard and steering wheel when a collision occurs

  • They act as a soft cushion to prevent injury on the passenger when they are thrown forward upon impact

• Crumple zones

  • These are designed into the exterior of vehicles

  • They are at the front and back and are designed to crush or crumple in a controlled way in a collision

  • This is why vehicles after a collision look more heavily damaged than expected, even for relatively small collisions

  • The crumple zones increase the time over which the vehicle comes to rest, lowering the impact force on the passengers

Crash mats

• Crash mats used in gymnasiums help reduce the risk of injury for falls in gymnastics and climbing

  • They are thick and soft to offer shock absorption of the force created by the person landing on the mat

• When a person lands on a crash mat with a large force, for example, after jumping, the soft landing means their body is in contact with the mat for a longer period of time than if it were otherwise not there

• This increases the contact time over which their momentum is reduced, creating a smaller impact force and a lower chance of injury

Climber using a crash mat

A bouldering mat is a type of crash mat used to reduce the chance of injury in falls whilst climbing

• In a similar way, playgrounds utilise cushioned surfaces as children will often fall onto these with a large force

  • The cushioned surface reduces the risk of a severe injury by increasing their contact time with the ground

• Meanwhile, a child in a gymnasium can use a thinner crash mat than an adult due to having a lower mass

• This is the same for activities where a person/adult will fall with a low velocity such as falling from lower heights

  • Therefore, thin crash mats are suitable for low-impact activities

• Safety features are intended to reduce the chance of serious injury but do not completely prevent it in all cases