Question

A 1700 -kg truck is traveling at 20m/s on a road such that the maximum frictional force between its tires and the road is 12,000 N. Find the minimum turning radius of the car.

Answer 1

Take into account that the static friction supplies the centripetal force, then, you can write:

$F_r=m\frac{v^2}{r}$

where,

m: mass of the truck = 1700 kg

v: speed of the truck = 20 m/s

r: turning radius = ?

Fr: maximum frictional force = 12,000 N

Solve the equation above for r, replace the values of the other parameters and simplify:

$r=\frac{mv^2}{F_r}=\frac{\left(1700kg\right)\left(20\frac{m}{s}\right)^2}{12000N}\approx56.67m$

Hence, the turing radius of the car is approximately 56.67m