A car travels clockwise at constant speed around a circular section of a horizontal road as shown in the aerial view of above figure. Find the directions of its velocity and acceleration at (a) position A and (b) position B.
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Solution
Because the car travels at a constant speed, it has no tangential acceleration, but it does have centripetal acceleration because it travels along a circular arc. The direction of the centripetal acceleration is toward the center of curvature, and the direction of velocity is tangent to the curve. Point A direction of velocity: East direction of the centripetal acceleration: South Point B direction of velocity: South direction of the centripetal acceleration: West