Traumatic brain injury such as concussion results when the headundergoes a very large acceleration. Generally, an accelerationless than 800 m/s2 lasting for any length of time will not causeinjury, whereas an acceleration greater than 1000 m/s2 lasting forat least 1 ms will cause injury. Suppose a small child rolls off abed that is 0.38 m above the floor. If the floor is hardwood, thechild's head is brought to rest in approximately 1.9 mm. If thefloor is carpeted, this stopping distance is increased to about 1.0cm. Calculate the magnitude and duration of the deceleration inboth cases, to determine the risk of injury. Assume that the childremains horizontal during the fall to the floor. Note that a morecomplicated fall could result in a head velocity greater or lessthan the speed you calculate.
Hardwood floor magnitude
m/s2
duration
ms
Carpeted floor magnitude
Your response differs from the correct answer by more than 10%.Double check your calculations. m/s2
duration
Your response differs from the correct answer by more than 10%.Double check your calculations. ms
