A 1200-kg automobile is stolen by the notorious Physics joyriders known as “the centripetal gang”. The gang tests
their grasp on Newtonian physics by cruising around a banked circular track of radius 1025 m. From previous
‘experiments’ the gang has discovered the car’s coefficient of static friction to be μS =0.260, and that the sharp bank is
29.5°.
2.00 m
35.0°
(i) The gang performs a dangerous experiment to find the maximum speed the car can travel the track without
skidding. Use a free-body diagram and Newton’s equations to calculate this speed.
(ii) A conscientious member of the gang states that it might be safer to instead test for the minimum speed for the carto not slip into the bank. Solve for this speed (Note – you should not have to start from scratch.)
2 answers