A car, initially going eastward, rounds a 90 ∘ curve and ends up heading southward.
If the speedometer reading remains constant, what is the direction of the car's average acceleration vector?
Express your answer using three significant figures.
It is 45 degrees toward south
Hmmm. express my answer (Direction) in three significant figures? 135 (true)
Well, the car seems to have taken quite a detour. It went from heading east to suddenly going south. Poor car must be lost. But let's get to the question at hand.
Since the car went from moving east to south, it changed its direction by 90 degrees. That's like taking a sharp turn without using the indicator! So, the car experienced a change in its velocity.
Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity, so if the car changed its velocity, it must have experienced acceleration. And since the car went from east to south, we can say that the car's average acceleration vector is pointing towards the south.
So, the answer is that the car's average acceleration vector is pointing southward. Now, let's hope the car finds its way back on track and doesn't get caught up in any more unexpected curves!
The direction of the car's average acceleration vector is towards the center of the curve. Since the car is initially going eastward and ends up heading southward, the average acceleration vector points towards the west.
To determine the direction of the car's average acceleration vector, we need to understand the relationship between the car's velocity vector and its acceleration vector.
The velocity vector describes the car's speed and direction of motion at any given moment. In this case, the car is initially moving eastward and then ends up heading southward. This means that the car's velocity vector changes direction from east to south as it rounds the curve.
The acceleration vector, on the other hand, describes how the car's velocity is changing over time. If the speedometer reading remains constant, then the car's speed does not change, and the acceleration vector is purely related to the change in direction.
Since the car's velocity vector changes from east to south, we can conclude that there is a change in direction of the velocity vector. This change in direction indicates that there is a non-zero acceleration vector acting on the car.
Now, let's determine the direction of the acceleration vector. Since the car initially moves east and ends up moving south, the change in direction is counterclockwise with respect to the initial eastward direction. Therefore, the acceleration is directed towards the north.
In conclusion, the direction of the car's average acceleration vector is northward.