23/01/2020 How to Calculate the Force of a Falling Object

How to Calculate Force of Impact

•••

Updated April 29, 2018 By Timothy Banas

During an impact, the energy of a moving object is converted into work, and force
plays an important role. To create an equation for the force of any impact, you can set
the equations for energy and work equal to each other and solve for force. From there,
calculating the force of an impact is relatively easy.

TL;DR (Too Long; Didn't Read)

To calculate the force of impact, divide kinetic energy by distance. F = (0.5 * m *
v^2) ÷ d

Impact and Energy

Energy is defined as the ability to do work. During an impact, an object's energy is
converted into work. The energy of a moving object is called kinetic energy, and is
equal to one half of the object's mass times the square of its velocity: KE = 0.5 × m ×
v^2. When thinking about the impact force of a falling object, you can calculate the
energy of the object at its point of impact if you know the height from which it was
dropped. This type of energy is known as gravitational potential energy and it is equal
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to the object's mass multiplied by the height from which it was dropped and the
acceleration due to gravity: PE = m × g × h.

Impact and Work

Work occurs when a force is applied to move an object a certain distance. Therefore,
work is equal to force multiplied by distance: W = F × d. Because force is a component
of work and an impact is the conversion of energy into work, you can use the equations
for energy and work to solve for the force of an impact. The distance traveled when
the work is accomplished by an impact is called the stop distance. It is the distance
traveled by the moving object after the impact has occurred.

Impact From a Falling Object

Suppose you want to know the impact force of a rock with a mass of one kilogram that
falls from a height of two meters and embeds itself two centimeters deep inside of a
plastic toy. The first step is to set the equations for gravitational potential energy and
work equal to each other and solve for force. W = PE is F × d = m × g × h, so F = (m × g ×
h) ÷ d. The second and final step is to plug the values from the problem into the
equation for force. Remember to use meters, not centimeters, for all distances. The
stop distance of two centimeters must be expressed as two hundredths of a meter.
Also, the acceleration due to gravity on Earth is always 9.8 meters per second per
second. The force of impact from the rock will be: (1 kg × 9.8 m/s^2 × 2 m) ÷ 0.02 m =
980 Newtons.

Impact From a Horizontally Moving Object

Now suppose you want to know the impact force of a 2,200-kilogram car traveling at
20 meters per second that crashes into a wall during a safety test. The stop distance in
this example is the crumple zone of the car, or the distance by which the car shortens
on impact. Suppose the car is squished enough to be three quarters of a meter shorter
than it was before the impact. Again, the first step is to set the equations for energy --
this time kinetic energy -- and work equal to each other and solve for force. W = KE is
F × d = 0.5 × m × v^2, so F = (0.5 × m × v^2) ÷ d. The final step is to plug the values from
the problem into the equation for force: (0.5 × 2,200 kilograms × (20
meters/second)^2) ÷ 0.75 meters = 586,667 Newtons.

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How to Calculate the Force of a Falling Object

How to Calculate the Force of a Falling

Object

•••

Updated April 24, 2018 By Lee Johnson

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23/01/2020 How to Calculate the Force of a Falling Object

Calculating the force in a wide range of situations is crucial to physics. Most of the
time, Newton’s second law (F = ma) is all you need, but this basic approach isn’t always
the most direct way to tackle every problem. When you’re calculating force for a
falling object, there are a few extra factors to consider, including how high the object is
falling from and how quickly it comes to a stop. In practice, the simplest method for
determining the falling object force is to use the conservation of energy as your
starting point.

Background: The Conservation of Energy

The conservation of energy is a fundamental concept in physics. Energy isn’t created
or destroyed, just transformed from one form into another. When you use the energy
from your body (and ultimately the food you’ve eaten) to pick up a ball from the
ground, you’re transferring that energy into gravitational potential energy; when you
release it, that same energy becomes kinetic (moving) energy. When the ball strikes
the ground, the energy is released as sound, and some may also cause the ball to
bounce back up. This concept is crucial when you need to calculate falling object
energy and force.

The Energy at the Impact Point

The conservation of energy makes it easy to work out how much kinetic energy an
object has just before the point of impact. The energy has all come from the
gravitational potential it has before falling, so the formula for gravitational potential
energy gives you all the information you need. It is:

E = mgh

In the equation, m is the mass of the object, E is the energy, g is the acceleration due to
gravity constant (9.81 m s−2 or 9.81 meters per second squared), and h is the height
the object falls from. You can work this out easily for any object that falls as long as
you know how big it is and how high it falls from.

The Work-Energy Principle

The work-energy principle is the last piece of the puzzle when you’re working out the
falling object force. This principle states that:

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Average impact force × Distance traveled = Change in kinetic energy

This problem needs the average impact force, so rearranging the equation gives:

Average impact force = Change in kinetic energy ÷ Distance traveled

The distance traveled is the only remaining piece of information, and this is simply how
far the object travels before coming to a stop. If it penetrates into the ground, the
average impact force is smaller. Sometimes this is called the “deformation slow down
distance,” and you can use this when the object deforms and comes to a stop, even if it
doesn’t penetrate into the ground.

Calling the distance traveled after impact d, and noting that the change in kinetic
energy is the same as the gravitational potential energy, the complete formula can be
expressed as:

Average impact force = mgh ÷ d

Completing the Calculation

The hardest part to work out when you calculate falling object forces is the distance
traveled. You can estimate this to come up with an answer, but there are some
situations where you can put together a firmer figure. If the object deforms when it
makes impact – a piece of fruit that smashes as it hits the ground, for example – the
length of the portion of the object that deforms can be used as distance.

A falling car is another example because the front crumples from the impact. Assuming
that it crumples in 50 centimeters, which is 0.5 meters, the mass of the car is 2,000 kg,
and it is dropped from a height of 10 meters, the following example shows how to
complete the calculation. Remembering that the average impact force = mgh ÷ d, you
put the example figures in place:

Average impact force = (2000 kg × 9.81 m s−2 × 10 m) ÷ 0.5 m = 392,400 N = 392.4 kN

Where N is the symbol for a Newtons (the unit of force) and kN means kilo-Newtons
or thousands of Newtons.

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Related Articles

How to Calculate Joules

How to Calculate Joules

•••

Updated March 13, 2018 By Timothy Banas

In science, the joule is the unit of energy or work. It is a compound unit defined as 1
newton of force over a distance of 1 meter, or as the kinetic energy of a 1 kilogram
mass moving at one meter per second. Joules can also be converted from calories, as
calories are another unit of energy. There are 4.19 joules in every calorie. You can
calculate joules by calculating the kinetic energy, or energy of motion, of an object. You
can also calculate the joules by calculating the amount of work accomplished by a
person or machine. Lastly, you can calculate joules by converting directly from a
measurement in calories.
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Calculating Joules of Kinetic Energy

Write the equation for kinetic energy:

Kinetic energy = 1/2 * mass * velocity ^2, where Kinetic energy is in joules, mass is in
kilograms, and velocity is in meters per second.

Consider the moving object for which you would like to calculate the kinetic energy in
joules. For example, suppose you want to calculate the energy of a 700 kilogram (kg)
car moving at 20 meters per second (m/s).

Plug the values into the kinetic energy equation to calculate the joules, as shown
below:

Kinetic Energy = 1/2 * 700 kg * 20^2 m/s = 140,000 joules

Calculating Joules of Work

Write the equation for work:

Work = force * distance, where work is in joules, force is in newtons, and distance is in
meters.

Consider the situation for which you would like to calculate the joules of work being
done. For example, suppose you want to calculate the work done by a man who uses
250 newtons (n) of force to push a box 8 meters (m) across the floor.

Plug the values into the work equation to calculate the Joules, like so:

Work = 250 N x 8 m = 2000 J

Converting Calories to Joules

Construct a conversion factor for converting calories to joules. You know that there
are 4.19 joules in a calorie, which can be written mathematically as 4.19 joules/calorie.

Consider the calorie value you want to convert to joules. For instance, suppose you
want to know how many joules of energy are in 300 calories.

Multiply the calorie value by the conversion factor, as the following line shows:

300 calories * 4.19 joules/calorie = 1,257 Joules

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