So, a friend and I are in the middle of a pointless debate. Which would cause more damage, being hit by a chair or a human? We are assuming a human mass of about 77Kg and a chair mass of about 5kg. Both being swung at the the same velocity (about 20 m/s). I said the human because it has about 17 times more mass and momentum.Please set the record straight.
Depends if the human has boobs or not, could be natural cushions so you got to consider that in there =)
I assume you mean the chair is being swung by a human and the human's arm is swinging, not that a whole human is being swung? So it is a case of being hit by a human with a chair or by the human's fist? The chair would be swung more or less at arms length. Assuming the arm is turning at about the same rotational speed for either the fist or the chair, the end of the chair would actually be much further from the body than the fist at the end of the arm, so the bit of the chair which makes impact would actually be traveling much faster than the fist. You can't simply compare the mass of the human with that of the chair because the mass of the chair is increased by the human who is attached to it and swinging it. Effectively the person and chair become a single bludgeoning unit unless the person lets go of the chair. Given that the total mass is similar but the chair will have greater impact because the bit of the chair farthest from the person swinging it will be moving at a greater speed, the chair will do more damage. Add in to the equation the fact that a person punching will be more likely to pull back from a full impact because of the pain involved in the fist when it hits its mark - but the chair feeds back no pain to the assailant so it can be followed through at full impact. Finally, if the chair hits at one of the padded parts then the blow will be significantly cushioned, but if it is a wooden bit that hits, that will be harder than flesh-covered bone.
