Chariot Collisons

This chariot colliding into a wall and then into a pillow is an excellent example of impulse and momentum, two concepts that we are now learning in Physics. When I was younger, I used to love playing with legos and toy cars, and now with knowledge of physics I can better explain what happens when they collide with a still object.

When the chariot collides with the wall, the force of its impact is greater than the force of its impact

when it collides with the pillow. This is because force equals the impulse (change in momentum) divided by

the change in time. When the chariot hit the wall the time it takes to change momentum is less than when it hits the pillow because the pillow slows the time that the chariot takes to impact, and therefore it changes momentum at a slower rate. Because the impulse is the same in both scenarios, when the chariot collides with the wall, its force of impact is greater than when it collides with the pillow because the impulse is divided by a smaller time, therefore making the force greater.