Physics Force & Motion BUMHS 2024
PMDC Verified Question 20 of 137
A person's life was saved in a car accident due to airbags system. During that car accident, airbags expanded in front of head of that person. If that car was not equipped with airbags then movement of head would be stopped by windshield in much faster time. Airbags saved life because it
A
causes much greater force for longer time
B
causes much greater force for smaller time
C
causes much smaller force for longer time
D
causes much smaller force for smaller time
Tap any option to test your recall and reveal the step-by-step Propolis autopsy.

Propolis Cognitive Error Autopsy

Official Correct Choice:
Option C: causes much smaller force for longer time
Concept:

Impulse-Momentum Theorem applications to human safety.

Formula:

$$ F = \frac{\Delta p}{\Delta t} $$

Solution:

  • In a crash, the passenger's momentum must be reduced to strictly zero (\( \Delta p \) is fixed).


  • Airbags are soft, meaning they gently compress as the head hits them. This dramatically stretches out the impact time interval (\( \Delta t \) increases).


  • Because time is in the denominator, a much larger time mathematically produces a much smaller impact force on the skull.


Why other options are incorrect:

Greater force would shatter the skull. Smaller time (hitting the hard glass) mathematically spikes the force to lethal levels.

Quality & Fidelity Assurance: Every question on BeambePrep is rigorously curated against the official PMDC syllabus with zero filler, zero out-of-syllabus content, and zero typos. When an authentic past paper originally contained a historical mistake or ambiguity from the examining board (such as UHS or NUMS), BeambePrep faithfully reflects the original paper while detailing the nuance and scientific consensus in the autopsy above.

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