A car traveling at a constant speed goes around a sharp curve. Is the car accelerating? Explain.

Question options:

No the car is not accelerating because it didn't change speeds.


Yes the car is accelerating because it had to slow down to go around the curve.


Yes the car is accelerating because it is changing direction as it goes around the curve.


No the car is not accelerating because it is going at a constant speed.

Respuesta :

yes the car is accelerating because it is changing direction as it goes around the corner

Acceleration is defined as the rate of change of velocity of any object with time.

[tex]Acceleration  =\frac{\bigtriangleup v}{t}[/tex]

Since, speed is kept constant but direction is changed as it goes around the sharp curve and change in the direction results in acceleration as velocity is a vector quantity which depends upon magnitude as well as on direction.

Although, speed of the car is constant, for motion around the sharp curve, the direction is changing; hence the car will have acceleration.

Thus, the car has acceleration because it is changing direction as it goes around the curve.