Question

Suppose you are driving a car at a high speed. Why should you avoid slamming on your brakes when you want to stop in the shortest possible distance? (Newer cars have antilock brakes that avoid this problem.)

Answer 1

Answer:

It is because avoiding slamming the brakes will allow us to stop in a shorter distance as compared to the distance in which the vehicle stops if we slam the brakes.

Explanation:

When we apply the brakes in our vehicle by slamming them the car stops while sliding or we can say that the force that stops the car is the kinetic friction that sets up between the ground the tires of the car. While as when the wheels are turning as opposite to sliding the force that is involved in the deceleration of the car is the static friction. The force of static friction is greater than the force of kinetic friction as the coefficient of static friction between the tires of the car and the road is greater than the coefficient of kinetic friction. This larger force stops the car in a shorter distance.