Physics/math formula guru question
Talking about an accident where a Nissan Sentra(3100lbs) was going 20mph and rear ended a 1/2 ton pick up(5400lbs) that was pulling a flatbed trailer(1800lbs). Pick up was stopped and Nissan rear ended it, tearing the trailer up, bending the receiver /ball and bending the pick up frame where the hitch bolts to it and moving the truck about a foot. A Judge cannot understand how this “little tiny Nissan” going 20mph damaged the pick up frame from impacting the trailer. Who can figure the force of impact on this deal?
as an engineer, I can figure the related stated math, but theres a great deal of the facts not in evidence.
given the stated figures
29.33 Feet per second = 19.9977 Miles per hour
7000 grains=1 lb
3100x 7000=21700000 grains
21700,000 x 29.33 x29.33 /450240= 41,461 ft lbs of energy on impact
56213.56795576817 nm
thats roughly 13.4 times the weight of that nissan nearly instantly applied to the trailer impact point and much of that energy directly applied to the trailer hitch,
but in truth you have no way of knowing, for a fact,
the guy was not going 30-40 mph,
nor the actual, the true weight of the nissan and contents weight,
which could nearly quadruple the impact energy
https://www.convertunits.com/from/lb-ft/to/N-m
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