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Why does friction play the role of centripetal force during the turning of a car
?
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What makes frictional force the centripetal force of a car turning along a curve
?
As friction is the opposing force and acts anti-parallel so there is no componen
t of frictional force towards the center,right? Then how can frictional force be
centripetal force?
newtonian-mechanics friction centripetal-force
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edited Oct 6 '14 at 6:33
MAFIA36790
5,9981342103
asked Oct 5 '14 at 16:12
pcforgeek
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2 Answers
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There are two types of frictional force, the static friction and kinetic frictio
n.
Kinetic friction is the force experienced when you drag an object on the floor.
Static friction is what enables you to hold objects without it slipping away fro
m your fingers.
Similarly, as you drive, assuming that the wheels don't spin, your wheels are pu
shing backwards against the floor, and friction is the opposing force that pushe
s your wheel forward, enabling you to drive forward. If static friction does not
exist, your wheels will simply spin, and you car will remain stationary, becaus
e there is no frictional force to push your car forward. (If you can't visualize
this, think of what happens when you row a boat. You push the paddles backward
so that the water resistance force pushes your boat forward)
As you negotiate a turn, if you are turning left, your wheels are pushing to the
right against the floor. Static friction allows the floor to "push back" agains
t your wheels, allowing you to turn left.

In this case the only force that is acting in the direction of turn(centripetal
force) is the frictional force. As the floor is the only surface that is in cont
act with the car, friction is the only force that is acting on the car towards t
he centre of the turn, pushing the car towards the centre of the turn.
enter image description here
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edited Oct 5 '14 at 17:41
answered Oct 5 '14 at 16:20
t.c
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Note that it is not motion, but relative motion that the friction opposes. An ex
ample: Consider a box lying in the compartment of a train that is accelerating.
If the box is stationary relative to the train,it is in fact accelerating with t
he train. Clearly,the only force in the horizontal direction is the friction. If
it were not so, the floor of the train would slip by and the box would remain a
t its initial state due to inertia(and hit the back of the train) . Thus relativ
e motion is opposed by static friction fsfs.
Now coming to your point: When the car is moving in a straight road,and is about
to take a turn, it tends to slide straight i.e., outward relative to the road .
You can imagine it by drawing an arc and a tangent through a point in it ( If y
ou were standing at that point watching the tangent, you would see the tangent i
s gradually deviating outward . This is the path to be followed by a sliding car
. To stop sliding, friction must act inward). Now before sliding starts,to oppos
e the outward relative motion, static friction comes to play . It opposes the mo
tion by acting in opposite direction i.e., radially inward to the turn. Thus if
you imagine the turn as a part of a circle, the static friction will play the ro
le of centripetal force.
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edited Nov 8 '15 at 12:48
answered Oct 5 '14 at 16:37
MAFIA36790
5,9981342103
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Linked
1
As a car turns around a circle, why does the force of static friction point towa
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