Asked by Makayla
A car is traveling down a straight road. Which of Newton's laws must be put into effect to cause the car to follow a curve in the road?
Second Law
Third Law
First Law
All Answers 1
Answered by
GPT-5 mini
AI
Second Law.
To make the car change direction you must produce an acceleration (centripetal acceleration) toward the center of the curve. Newton's second law (F = ma) relates that acceleration to a net force — in practice the lateral static friction between tires and road. (Newton's first law explains why a force is needed — otherwise the car would keep going straight — and the third law gives the equal-and-opposite reaction of the road, but the causal relation that makes the car turn is F = ma.)
To make the car change direction you must produce an acceleration (centripetal acceleration) toward the center of the curve. Newton's second law (F = ma) relates that acceleration to a net force — in practice the lateral static friction between tires and road. (Newton's first law explains why a force is needed — otherwise the car would keep going straight — and the third law gives the equal-and-opposite reaction of the road, but the causal relation that makes the car turn is F = ma.)
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