Final answer:
Pulling back on the motorcycle's right handlebar at highway speeds results in a countersteering effect, where angular momentum causes the bike to tip to the left and thus make a left turn. This is due to the gyroscopic effect of the motorcycle's wheels, as illustrated in Figure 10.6.
Step-by-step explanation:
When a physics student riding a motorcycle observes that pulling back lightly on the right handlebar causes the bike to tip to the left and produce a left turn, this effect is due to the principles of angular momentum and countersteering. The action of pulling on the handlebar causes a counter force that enables the motorcycle to lean in the opposite direction of the turn, this is an example of angular momentum. This leaning action alters the balance of forces on the motorcycle, thereby changing its straight-line trajectory to a curved path, initiating the turn.
Countersteering works through a process where the action of pulling the handlebar in one direction causes the wheels of the motorcycle, which are spinning rapidly at highway speeds, to exert a gyroscopic effect in the opposite direction. This effect demonstrated in Figure 10.6, where the linear acceleration of a motorcycle is accompanied by an angular acceleration of its wheels, is what causes the motorcycle to lean and steer into the turn.
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