What happens to a softer material hitting a harder material at high speeds?

You often see action scenes in media, where a person is thrown so hard against a concrete wall, it breaks.

My question is if it's possible for a softer material to be accelerated to point where it would penetrate a harder material to a substantial amount. Does velocity even play a role in this? (Guns?) Or is it all material structure or hardness?

I guess I want to know which forces play a role at any given impact and what happens to both objects. Or does it all come down to material structure, flexibility and brittleness? I am really sorry if this is all over the place, I lack the physics education to phrase my question correctly.

• The answer to your question depends on what you mean by "high speed". High speeds on day-to-day human scales and speeds in excess of a few kilometers per second are quite different beasts. – dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten Nov 25 '18 at 23:00
• Well, I am aware of that. I guess for the movie related question it's always subsonic speeds but I guess the whole concept in general? How and when (at which velocity) it changes. If it's possible to accelerate a "softer", as in less dense inferior material structure etc, object to a speed where it damages a "harder" object to a substantial amount or does it always break, no matter the velocity? (e.g. would a copper projectile always bend/break/compress even when shot at super sonic speeds?) – Elias M Nov 25 '18 at 23:20
• check out "the water jet channel" on youtube. Water goes through steel like butter, whether it is soft or hard water, too. – JEB Nov 25 '18 at 23:47
• I guess that answers part of my question, but I am not talking about liquids! – Elias M Nov 26 '18 at 0:21
• A softer material simply means that impact time is longer. this means that there is a lesser force of impact since change in momentum is equals to force times time. – QuIcKmAtHs Nov 26 '18 at 9:37

Soft means that the material is more easily compressed. This would mean that the collision time of impact is greater. Since change in momentum is $$Ft$$, and $$t$$ increases, it would mean force decreases. So if you want to use a soft material to smash a wall, two things too take note are, of course the high velocity, and also the high coefficient of restitution. This makes a rubber ball highly ideal.