A passennger on a bus moving with uniform velocity lurches forward when the bus stops suddenly. Explain.?

Question

A passennger on a bus moving with uniform velocity lurches forward when the bus stops suddenly. Explain.

Answer 1

This is due to Newton's law of inertia of motion...

When the bus is in motion, the body is also in motion and can be considered as an extension of the bus..

On sudden stoppage, the lower part of the body comes to rest as it is in contact with the bus, while the upper body tends to continue its forward motion and thus a jerk is experienced...

Note that the force of jerk increases with increase in dist. from the part in conatct with the bus ie. feet...

Or in other words, a standing person gets greater jerk than a seated passenger.

Answer 2

Effects of inertia. The passenger is at rest with respect to the bus which is moving at an uniform velocity. When brakes are applied suddenly, the bus decelerates but the passenger continues to move forward with the same velocity and thus lurches forward.

Answer 3

The person still has forward momentum when the bus stops. Something has to happen to cancel that momentum, such as holding the handle, pushing against a seat belt, or slamming into the seat in front of them. One of Newton's laws of motion is that of inertia: an object that is moving will keep moving unless acted upon by an outside force.