this post was submitted on 23 Nov 2024
36 points (95.0% liked)
Futurology
1853 readers
102 users here now
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Interesting problem. Kinetic energy is E~k~ = kv^2^, where k = 1/2 for Newtonian physics. To double your speed, you need to apply four times the energy. Momentum is p = mv, so doubling your speed doubles your momentum. When you're in a vehicle collision, it's your momentum that hurts you as you collide with the car frame around you. Small particles don't have much mass, but at relativistic speeds they have a lot of momentum.