Concept question on External force

[crysland]

Describe a situation in which the net external force is not zero, but its speed remains constant.

I don't know if this situation is possible to explain.

 

[Doc Al]

What does Newton's 1st law say?

 

[crysland]

An object stays at rest, or if in motion, stays in motion at a constant velocity unless acted on by a net external force.

 

[Doc Al]

An object stays at rest, or if in motion, stays in motion at a constant velocity unless acted on by a net external force.

Good. Note the key word velocity. How does that differ from speed?

 

[crysland]

Velocity has both magnitude and direction but speed doesn't have direction

 

[Doc Al]

Velocity has both magnitude and direction but speed doesn't have direction

Exactly! So see if you can try to answer the question now.

Give an example of something with constant speed but not constant velocity.

 

[crysland]

A car going in a circle.

 

[rcgldr]

A car going in a circle.

How about a car following any curved path while moving at constant speed? A section of road could be similar to a sine wave, ellipse, spiral, parabola, ..., and a car would be able to follow that path while moving at constant speed.

 

[arildno]

A car going in a circle.

Your answer is definitely correct!
But, as the next post shows, other similar situations also exist.

 

[crysland]

Ok so what is the net external force acting on the car?

 

[arildno]

Ok so what is the net external force acting on the car?

Do you remember the expression for centripetal acceleration?

 

[crysland]

Yes. So centripetal force that pulls it toward the center is external?

 

[arildno]

Certainly.

 

[rcgldr]

Do you remember the expression for centripetal acceleration?

That would be speed^2 / (radius of curvature), which gets complicated for paths other than a circle.

Yes. So centripetal force that pulls it toward the center is external?

The simple answer is that centripetal force = centripetal acceleration x mass of the car.