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Title: What is the direction of frictional force when a car is going around a circular race track? Post by: leon on Jan 1, 2013 From what I understand, the direction of centripetal force is always directed towards the center of the circular track. But what is the direction of frictional force? And why is it that if the tangential force is greater than frictional force, the car will skid?
Title: What is the direction of frictional force when a car is going around a circular race track? Post by: leolove on Jan 1, 2013 The car wants to go in a straight line (one of Newton's Laws). Some force must act on it to cause it to follow a curved path. That is the centripetal force. It is balanced by the centrifugal force try to keep it going in a straight line. The centripetal force is provided by friction between the tires and the track surface. If the forces are unbalance, then there is a non-zero net force applied to the car. If the net force is directed outward (not enough friction) then the car skids.
On a typical race track, the turns are banked. This means some of the centrifugal force will be applied perpendicular to the track surface. That causes the frictional force to increase, allowing higher speeds in the turns without skidding. Title: What is the direction of frictional force when a car is going around a circular race track? Post by: tono on Jan 1, 2013 I know that the frictional force is inwards toward the center of the circle. I'm not too sure about the second part, are you sure that statement is true?
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