Question

a company tests the safety of a variety of vehicles. all the vehicles will travel at the same speed before colliding with a wall. based on the experiment we conducted in class, we can predict the strength of the forces that the vehicles will experience in a collision. which vehicle will deliver the weakest force during the collision?

Explanation:

Step1: Recall force - mass relation

According to Newton's second - law $F = ma$. In a collision where the time of deceleration is considered similar and the initial speed is the same for all vehicles (so acceleration is related to how quickly they stop), and assuming a constant deceleration time, the force is directly proportional to the mass of the vehicle ($F\propto m$ when $a$ is constant).

Step2: Compare vehicle masses

The car has the least mass among the truck, car, and SUV shown. Since $F\propto m$ and all vehicles have the same initial speed and similar collision - stopping conditions, the vehicle with the least mass will deliver the weakest force.

Answer:

The car will deliver the weakest force during the collision.