A 1000-kg compact car and a 2000-kg van, each traveling at 25 m/s, collide head-on and remain locked together after the collision, which lasts 0.20 8.
(a) According to Eq. 7.6, their accelerations during the collision are unequal. How can this be if both initially have the same speed and the time interval during which the collision takes place is the same amount of time for both?
(b) Calculate the average acceleration in the direction of travel experienced by each vehicle during the collision.