Video - MythBusters - Crash Force

Mythbusters crew decided to revisit an old myth that was drawing the ire of the show's fans for quite some time. And it's sure to be an interesting topic to automotive enthusiasts.

When two cars collide, each traveling 50 miles per hour, does the resulting force equal one car hitting an immovable object at 100 miles per hour?

It seems like such simple physics, no? But don't forget Newton's third law. To quote the great Wikipedia of knowledge, "Whenever a first body exerts a force F on a second body, the second body exerts a force −F on the first body. F and −F are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction." Or, more simply, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

 

I would think that the have less of an impact that 100 into a wall. Because at speed, they hit and can ricochet off of each other away from the impact zone. Unless they are of drastically different ride height, such as a 4wd and a lowered toyota.

 

i think the force of the two impacts would/should be equal. I think the engineering of the cars/immoveable object are going to the differences that will make once crash more or less.