Train at a railway station and on the platform there is a glass case (the mass of case is 5 kg and if it gets hit with a velocity of 10 N then the glass will break), a frame of reference is attached to me. Now my train starts with an acceleration of 2m/s^2. Now according to me I'm at rest and glass case is moving backward and so the acceleration on the glass case is 2m/s^2 (at present I'm not considering the direction). Therefore the force acting on the glass case is F=ma=5*2=10N at this the glass case should break, but this is not happening. Whereas according to a frame of reference attached to a person on the platform every thing is fine(i.e. there is no force(horizontal) acting on the glass case).

patylomy7

patylomy7

Answered question

2022-08-09

Train at a railway station and on the platform there is a glass case (the mass of case is 5   k g and if it gets hit with a velocity of 10   N then the glass will break), a frame of reference is attached to me. Now my train starts with an acceleration of 2 m / s 2 . Now according to me I'm at rest and glass case is moving backward and so the acceleration on the glass case is 2 m / s 2 . Therefore the force acting on the glass case is F = m a = 5 × 2 = 10 N at this the glass case should break, but this is not happening. Whereas according to a frame of reference attached to a person on the platform every thing is fine(i.e. there is no force(horizontal) acting on the glass case).

Answer & Explanation

Riya Cline

Riya Cline

Beginner2022-08-10Added 17 answers

You are calculating an unreal force by using Newton's second law. Remember that Newton's laws are valid in inertial frames of reference. And Newton defined inertial frames as those frames where an object continues to be at rest or in constant motion unless acted upon by a real physical force.
In your example the train or you is not an inertial frame. Hence, calculating F from F = m a for the glass case is invalid for the glass case is not acted upon by any real force. You cannot say a force of that much newtons is acting on it. When a real force acts on a body and causes an acceleration then only you can calculate the force by knowing the mass and the acceleration and this happens in inertial frames.
assuolareuz

assuolareuz

Beginner2022-08-11Added 3 answers

It's not a force that would break the glass, it's an uneven force (i.e., a baseball smacking the center of the glass).
A great illustration of this is air pressure. Air pressure has a force of about 100 , 000 N m 2 - so a normal glass case big enough to hold a fire extinguisher or something would have about 10 , 000   N of force evenly distributed throughout its surface area.
If you took out all the air inside, then you would have thoursands of Newtons of force only pushing inward - most glass would shatter, strong glass may be able to withstand the force.
So when you are watching the "entire world" accelerate m / s 2 backwards, its as if the force accelerating the earth is completely evenly distributed on every particle - thus no reason for anything to break.

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