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Banked With No Friction

### Banked With No Friction

Credit: susi.bsu
Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/62517473@N06/5948763278/

At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway there are 4 turns that have the tracked banked at nine and twelve degrees. Compared to a flat track, inclined edges add an additional force that keeps the cars on their path. This force prevents the cars from being pulled towards the center or pushed out.

#### Why It Matters

• When a car is driving on a flat surface in a straight line, it experiences four forces: force due to gravity, normal force, frictional force, and force applied by the tires.

Cars driving in a straight direction experience four different forces [Figure2]

• These four forces keep the car moving in a straight line. There are no forces that are perpendicular to the other two forces that would allow the car to turn in a circular path.
• If a car is on a banked turn, centripetal force is an additional force on the car. Usually the normal force just has a vertical component, but in the case of a banked curve it has both a vertical and a horizontal component.
• Watch what happens when friction does not exist:

#### What Do You Think?

Using the information provided above, answer the following questions.

1. The equation for the maximum velocity of a car on a banked curve is given as: $v=\sqrt{\frac{rg(\tan \theta - \mu_{s})}{1+\mu_{s} \tan \theta}}$. What does this equation simplify to when there is no banked corner?
2. Why does the normal force have a horizontal component when the car is on a banked curve?
3. What does the equation for the maximum velocity of a car on a banked curve simplify to when there is no friction?

1. [1]^ Credit: susi.bsu; Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/62517473@N06/5948763278/; License: CC BY-NC 3.0
2. [2]^ License: CC BY-NC 3.0

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