Imagine you are sitting in a car tossing a ball straight up into the air. a) If the car is moving at constant velocity will the ball land in front of, behind, or in your hand? b) If the car rounds a curve at constant sped where will the ball land?
a) If the car is moving at a constant velocity, the ball will land in your hand. This is because when you throw the ball straight up, it will conserve its horizontal velocity because there are no horizontal forces acting on it. Thus, as the car moves forward, the ball continues to have the same horizontal velocity as the car.
b) If the car rounds a curve at a constant speed, the ball will land slightly behind you. This is because when the car goes around a curve, it experiences centripetal acceleration towards the center of the curve. Since there is no horizontal force acting on the ball once it is thrown up, it will not experience that centripetal acceleration. As a result, the ball will continue moving in a straight line with its original velocity, while the car curves inward. Therefore, the ball will appear to land slightly behind you.