Question

2. In one episode, The Myth Busters investigated the possibility of opening the door of a car submerged in water at the bottom of a pool. Let’s consider a slightly different problem. If a car goes into water panicked people will try to open the door while the car is sinking, but before the compartment is filled with water and the pressure equalizes. As an engineer you can investigate this without having to sink a car (though that might be a fun experiment!). Assume that the vehicle sinks vertically with front end pointed straight down and water going progressively up the door. This question is highly openended. You will need to make engineering assumptions to make the problem tractable.

(a) (5 points) Calculate what at what depth (measured from the hinge of the door to the free surface) a person will no longer be able to open the door of their vehicle while the passenger compartment is still filled with air.

(b) (5 points) Justify your answer, including any assumptions that you need to make in order to solve the problem.

Answer 1

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