The human body can survive a negative acceleration trauma incident (sudden stop) if the magnitude of the acceleration is less than 250 m/s2 (approximately 25g). if you are in an automobile accident with an initial speed of 76 km/h (47 mi/h) and are stopped by an airbag that inflates from the dashboard, over what distance must the airbag stop you if you are to survive the crash?
Let d = the required stopping distance of the air bag. The initial velocity is u = 76 km/h = (76000/3600 m/s) = 21.111 m/s
The maximum acceleration (actually deceleration) is -250 m/s². The final velocity is zero, therefore 0² = (21.111 m/s)² + 2*(-250 m/s²)*(d m) Obtain d = 0.8914 m
Because the acceleration decreases when the stopping distance increases, a stopping distance of 1 m would be a good design choice.
Answer: The stopping distance is 0.9 m (nearest tenth)
