Question

The purple puck pictured below is moving on a horizontal frictionless surface in a circular path at a constant speed in a counter clockwise direction as seen from above. The dotted circular shape shown the path taken by the puck.
The puck is held by a string that is attached to the surface at the center of the circle.
If the string came lose when the puck was at the place shown in the diagram, which pictured path would the puck take?

• A. $1$
• B. $2$
• C. $3$
• D. $4$
• E. $5$

Answer 1

The correct option is C $3$

The puck moves in a circular path due to the centripetal force acting on it due to the tension in the string directed towards the center of the circle form the puck.

As soon as the string comes loose, the tension in the string goes zero, and there is no centripetal force acting on it, and hence the puck retains the same velocity and goes in the same direction as it did instantaneously.

Hence it follows path 3.