alleryStart learning →A car rounds a bend at a steady speed. Why is it still accelerating?
AIts velocity is changing direction
BIts mass is changing as it turns
CIts speed is secretly increasing
DIts weight is changing on the bend
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: A. Its velocity is changing direction
1. Velocity is a vector, so it has both a magnitude and a direction.
2. Acceleration is any change in that velocity, in magnitude or in direction or in both.
3. Going round a bend at constant speed changes the direction continuously.
4. So there is an acceleration even though the speedometer reading never moves.
_Source: OpenStax College Physics (CC BY 4.0), Ch 6 "Uniform Circular Motion and Gravitation", section 6.2 Centripetal Acceleration_
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