You are a doctor working in the emergency room and are attending victims of a ca

Question

You are a doctor working in the emergency room and are attending victims of a car accident. In the accident a parent was holding his/her child (m=10.0 kg) in his/her lap rather than in a car seat. The car was initially going at 55 mph and came to a stop in 0.010 seconds. If the parent wrapped his/her arms around the child to keep the child from flying through the window, what force would be exerted on the parent’s arms (assuming the same stopping time)? As the attending doctor, what type of injury would you look for?

Explanation / Answer

First convert mph into m/s

55 mph = 24.6 m/s

now dtermine the retardation of the car -

v = u + a*t

=> 0 = 24.6 + a*0.010

=> a = -24.6/0.01 = - 2460 m/s^2

So, the force exerted on the parent's arm, F = m*a = 10*2460 = 24600 N

Since the force is very big, so the parent's arm may be fractured.

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