Yahoo Answers is shutting down on May 4th, 2021 (Eastern Time) and beginning April 20th, 2021 (Eastern Time) the Yahoo Answers website will be in read-only mode. There will be no changes to other Yahoo properties or services, or your Yahoo account. You can find more information about the Yahoo Answers shutdown and how to download your data on this help page.

Ra!nbow asked in Science & MathematicsPhysics · 10 years ago

Need help with this Physics problem?

Traumatic brain injury such as concussion results when the head undergoes a very large acceleration. Generally, an acceleration less than 800 m/s2 lasting for any length of time will not cause injury, whereas an acceleration greater than 1000 m/s2 lasting for at least 1 ms will cause injury. Suppose a small child rolls off a bed that is 0.41 m above the floor. If the floor is hardwood, the child's head is brought to rest in approximately 1.9 mm. If the floor is carpeted, this stopping distance is increased to about 1.0 cm. Calculate the magnitude and duration of the deceleration in both cases, to determine the risk of injury. Assume the child remains horizontal during the fall to the floor. Note that a more complicated fall could result in a head velocity greater or less than the speed you calculate.

hardwood floor magnitude (m/s^2)

hardwood floor duration (ms)

carpeted floor magnitude (m/s^s)

carpeted floor duration (ms)

I gave up trying to work this problem out myself, and I only have one try left at getting it right. Help would be appreciated

1 Answer

Relevance
  • Anonymous
    10 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    Speed at reaching the floor = √ 2 . g . d = 2.835 m/s

    In stopping the acceleration is v^2 / 2 . d

    For hardwood a = 2.835^2 / 2 . 1.9 . 10^–3 = 2.11 . 10^3 = 2110 m/s/s

    duration t = v / a = 2.835 / 2110 = 1.34 ms

    For carpet

    a = 2.835^2 / 2 . 10^–2 = 4.02 . 10^2 = 402 m/s/s

    duration = 2.835 / 402 = 7.05 ms

    Source(s): Old teacher
Still have questions? Get your answers by asking now.