Let's say I have a sack full of stones and I drop the whole sack on a small table and it makes an impact on the table.
Now If I were to instead quickly pour the stones onto the table, won't it have essentially the same impact? Or at least if I pour it fast enough?
gintable
Favorite Answer
Impact comes from the stopping absorption of kinetic energy. The more kinetic energy, the more work or damage an object can do, as it comes to rest.
Kinetic energy is 1/2*m*v^2. Mass is only part of its picture. It also has velocity in it, and squared. Twice as much velocity = four times as much KE.
Tom
depending on how big your sack is ;)
The sack would cause the stones to be more organized and spread out less, causing them to collide together more than if you were to just pour them out.