2.1k views
0 votes
A race car travels around a circular track. How can I explain why the car is accelerating even though the driver maintains constant speed?

1 Answer

7 votes
You do it by pointing out that 'acceleration' does NOT mean speeding up.

"Acceleration" means ANY change in the motion, whether it's
speeding up, slowing down, or changing direction.

If a driver wants to stay on the circular track and not run off into the bushes,
then he has to keep changing the DIRECTION of the car's motion.
User Fractal
by
7.9k points