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17. Akhtar, Kiran and Rahul were riding in a motorcar that was moving with a high velocity on an expressway when an insecthit the windshield and got stuck on the windscreen. Akhtarand Kiran started pondering over the situation. Kiran suggestedthat the insect suffered a greater change in momentum ascompared to the change in momentum of the motorcar (becausethe change in the velocity of the insect was much more thanthat of the motorcar). Akhtar said that since the motorcar wasmoving with a larger velocity, it exerted a larger force on theinsect. And as a result the insect died. Rahul while putting anentirely new explanation said that both the motorcar and theinsect experienced the same force and a change in theirmomentum. Comment on these suggestions. |
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Answer» ding to the law of conservation of momentum:Momentum of the car and insect system before collision = Momentum of the car and insect system after collisionHence, the change in momentum of the car and insect system is zero.The insect gets stuck on the windscreen. This means that the DIRECTION of the insect is reversed. As a result, the velocity of the insect changes to a great amount. On the other hand, the car continues moving with a constant velocity. Hence, KIRAN’s SUGGESTION that the insect suffers a GREATER change in momentum as compared to the car is correct. The momentum of the insect after collision becomes very high because the car is moving at a high speed. Therefore, the momentum gained by the insect is equal to the momentum lost by the car.Akhtar MADE a correct conclusion because the mass of the car is very large as compared to the mass of the insect. Rahul equal to the momentum after the collision.☆☆☆☆ |
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