How does an airbag protect a passenger in a car following a car accident? a-it shortens the passenger’s stopping time, and this decreases the force. b-it shortens the passenger’s stopping time, and this increases the force. c-it increases the passenger’s stopping time, and this decreases the force. d-it increases the passenger’s stopping time, and this increases the force.

c-It increases the passenger’s stopping time, and this decreases the force.

Explanation:

The force experienced by the passenger during a car accident is given by

where

is the variation of momentum of the passenger

is the passenger's stopping time.

The airbag is able to increase the passenger's stopping time, so that the term in the formula above becomes larger. As a result, the force experienced by the passenger decreases, since the force is inversely proportional to the stopping time.

some think that theories become laws, but theories and laws have separate and distinct roles in the scientific method. a law is a description of an observed phenomenon in the natural world that hold true every time it is tested. it doesn't explain why something is true; it just states that it is true.