Impact (mechanics)

Common card · No. 456584

In mechanics, an impact is when two bodies collide. During this collision, both bodies decelerate. The deceleration causes a high force or shock, applied over a short time period. A high force, over a short duration, usually causes more damage to both bodies than a lower force applied over a proportionally longer duration. At normal speeds, during a perfectly inelastic collision, an object struck by a projectile will deform, and this deformation will absorb most or all of the force of the collision. Viewed from a conservation of energy perspective, the kinetic energy of the projectile is changed into heat and sound energy, as a result of the deformations and vibrations induced in the struck object. However, these deformations and vibrations cannot occur instantaneously. A high-velocity collision (an impact) does not provide sufficient time for these deformations and vibrations to occur. Thus, the struck material behaves as if it were more brittle than it would otherwise be, and the majority...

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