- #1
Thewindyfan
- 68
- 19
Homework Statement
A car is going around a circular track at constant velocity. What direction is the net force acting on the car pointing to?
Homework Equations
Fnet = ma[/B]
Fnet = m(v^2/r) --> don't really know if this will help me understand it, but if this will help me understand what's going on then that'll be great to keep in mind.
Newton's 1st law
The Attempt at a Solution
I'm unsure about what direction exactly the net force would be acting in.
We know the car is going at constant velocity, so Newton's first law should be applicable since we're only considering inertial reference frames in my physics class.
But at the same time, there is centripetal acceleration in this scenario, where the acceleration vector is always pointed towards the center of the circular path
The confusing thing for me is that I'm unsure of whether it's correct to say that the net force is also pointing in the direction of the acceleration vector for this case, since I'm unsure of what happens if the force in the opposite direction of the acceleration vector is greater than the force acting in the same direction as the acceleration.
I feel like the answer should be my 2nd guess, but I'd like someone to clarify with me on this; if the force acting on the car in the opposite direction of the acceleration is greater than the force acting on the car in the same direction (and thus I would assume the net force is pointing in the opposite direction), does that mean the acceleration vector just becomes smaller overall or am I actually making sense with this assumption?