system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: When a car traveling 50mph hits another car head-on also traveling 50mph it hits it with the force of a car hitting a brick wall at 50mph. Why isn't it more forceful?
gpt
If both cars are a similar mass, then they will both stop. Both cars will have a speed change of 50 MPH. The change in speed is what causes the forces in a crash, so coming to a stop by hitting a wall, and coming to a stop by hitting a car are the same. If a 50 mph car hits a 50mph 18wheeler, the car won't stop. The car will be pushed backwards because the truck weighs more, and it will have a larger than 50MPH change in speed. The truck will not completely stop in this collision, and it won't have as bad of a crash as if it hit a wall.