Question

When a bicycle is being paddled, the force of friction exerted by ground on the two wheels is such that

• A. it is in the backward direction on the front wheel and in the forward direction on the rear wheel.
• B. it is in the forward direction on the front wheel and in the backward direction on the rear wheel.
• C. it is in the backward direction on both the front and rear wheels
• D. it is in the forward direction on both the front and rear wheels

Answer 1

Answer: (A)

it is in the backward direction on the front wheel and in the forward direction on the rear wheel.

When a bicycle is being paddled, the rear wheel tries to push the ground backwards thereby getting a frictional force in the forward direction. And as for the front wheel imagine it moving on the frictionless road. It would slide without rolling. If we increase the friction we see that the frictional force pushes the circumference of the wheel backwards thus giving the rolling motion to the wheel.