
A sports car has a “lateral acceleration” of 0.96g = 9.4 m . This is the maximum centripetal acceleration the car can sustain without skidding out of a curved path. If the car is traveling at a constant 40 m/s on level ground, what is the radius R of the tightest unbanked curve it can negotiate?
The car is in uniform circular motion because it’s moving at a constant speed along a curve that is a segment of a circle. Hence we know
R== =170 m
This is the minimum turning radius because arad is the maximum centripetal acceleration.