Question

A police officer in hot pursuit drives her car through a circular turn of radius 285 m with a constant speed of 80.5 km/h. Her mass is 55.0 kg. (Hint: Consider both horizontal and vertical forces.)
(a) What is the magnitude of the net force of the officer on the car seat? N
(b) What is the angle (relative to vertical) of the net force of the officer on the car seat?

Answer 1

Answer:

Part a)

$F = 96.5 N$

Part b)

$\theta = 90^o$

Explanation:

Part a)

As we know that car is moving with uniform speed

so here net tangential force must be zero while in radial direction the car is moving in circle so here we have

$F = \frac{mv^2}{R}$

so we have

$m = 55 kg$

R = 285 m

$v = 80.5 km/h = 22.36 m/s$

now we have

$F = \frac{55(22.36)^2}{285}$

$F = 96.5 N$

Part b)

As we know that Police Man is experiencing the force only towards the center of the circle

So the net force is horizontal towards the center of the circle and hence it angle with vertical will be

$\theta = 90^o$