High School Forces on a passenger in a car?

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SUMMARY

The forces acting on a passenger in a car traveling at a constant speed on a level surface include gravitational force (weight) and the normal force from the seat. Since the car is not accelerating, there is no horizontal net force acting on the passenger. This principle aligns with Newton's second law, which states that an object in motion at constant velocity experiences no net force. The same concept applies to passengers in other moving vehicles, such as trains or airplanes, where constant speed results in no net force on the individual.

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  • Concept of constant velocity in physics
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What would the forces acting only on a passenger in a car going at constant speed on a level surface be? Of course, there would be weight and the reactive force acting on any passenger, but is there a horizontal net force? Or are there just the forces acting on the car and there are no horizontal forces acting on the passenger directly?
Thanks
 
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beans123 said:
What would the forces acting only on a passenger in a car going at constant speed on a level surface be? Of course, there would be weight and the reactive force acting on any passenger, but is there a horizontal net force? Or are there just the forces acting on the car and there are no horizontal forces acting on the passenger directly?
Thanks
Is this question for homework? Or a general question as you study Physics at school?
 
This is just a general question based from a personal conversation I had.
 
beans123 said:
This is just a general question based from a personal conversation I had.
Ok, in that case the question @BvU asked in post #2 is your starting point. What difference does it make? Newton’s second law may also be helpful.
 
beans123 said:
The passengers wouldn't be accelerating since the car is at a constant speed which, of course, means there's no net force.
I agree. What about a follow-up question:
One of the passengers (unwisely) sticks his head out of the window and claims: I can clearly feel a net force ?

##\ ##
 
beans123 said:
What would the forces acting only on a passenger in a car going at constant speed on a level surface be?
None.

It is the same answer for a passenger in a train going at 300 km/h or one in an airplane going at 750 km/h. It is also the same answer for a human being standing still at the equator while actually moving at 1670 km/h.
 

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