Question

Why does a glass vessel break when it falls on a hard floor, but it does not break when it falls on a carpet?

Answer 1

The glass will break when it falls on the hard floor, this is due to the reaction force given by the floor. This statement is given by Newton's third law of motion. By comparing the reaction force of the floor and the carpet, why the glass breaks on the floor and why the glass will not break on the carpet is determined.

Complete step by step solution:
According to Newton's third law of the motion, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. By this statement, when the glass falls on the floor, the glass will give some force to the floor, the floor will give the same amount of the force in the opposite direction to the glass. So, the glass material will not withstand the reaction force given by the floor. Then the glass will start breaking. The floor is the hard surface so it will not act as a flexible agent to observe the force given by the glass. But the carpet is also the surface, when the glass falls on the surface of the carpet the glass gives some force to the carpet. Then the carpet gives some reaction force. But the carpet acts as a flexible agent, so it observes some force which is given by the glass. So here the vertical force of the glass is converted to the flexible force of the carpet. So, here some energy is transferred. So, the glass will not break.

Note: In this question, two statements are used, one is Newton's third law of the motion and the other statement is law of conservation of the energy. Action force and the reaction force will come under Newton’s third law of motion. The conversion of energy from vertical energy to flexible energy comes under the law of conservation of energy. The material of the glass also the brittle material, so that it is not flexible to absorb some energy.