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The Physics of Car Crashes in ‘Stranger Things 3’
Could a Cadillac knock a speeding Camaro out of the way of our heroes? A physicist explains.
There is a bunch of great physics in the latest season of Stranger Things, including a quick use of the value of Planck’s constant as a code. But I’m not just a fan of the show — I’m also a scientist. You might enjoy some popcorn while you view an episode, but I like to add a little bit of physics analysis.
Now for a slight spoiler alert. I’m going to be looking at the last episode in season 3. It’s not a huge plot element, but I know that there are some purists out there who haven’t cleared out their Netflix queue. So, here’s your chance to make a run for it.
If you’re still here, then let’s get to it. In this particular scene, someone is driving a Camaro with the intention of crashing into a stationary car. But wait! At the last moment before impact, a convertible Cadillac comes out of nowhere to T-bone the Camaro, pushing it out of the way so that it misses the stationary car.
But how realistic is this scene? Could a Cadillac actually save the stationary car? Let’s start by considering a collision between two equal-mass cars — which roughly seems to be the case here — moving at right angles to each other. Here is a diagram.
