PHYS 1P21 Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Friction, New Zealand, Centripetal Force

• School: Brock University
• Department: Physics
• Course: PHYS 1P21
• Professor: Santo D' Agostino

Document Summary

Example: maximum speed for a car turning around a curve on a level road with friction. A car of mass 1200 kg moves around a curve on level ground that has a a radius of 20 m. Determine the maximum speed for which the car can safely move around the curve. Thus, the maximum acceleration that friction between the tires and the road can produce is 4. 9 m/s2. Also note that static friction between the tires and the road is the origin of the force pushing the vehicle towards the centre of the circle (why is it not kinetic friction?). Because the static friction force points towards the centre of the circle, most textbooks call it a centripetal force. Note, however, that this is not a new kind of force, but is simply a reminder that the force acts towards the centre of the circle. In this example, it"s a static friction force, nothing new.