Final answer:
When backing to the right, you turn the steering wheel to the right, parallel to directions involving bicycles or motorcycles, where handlebar movements dictate the vehicle's direction due to physics principles like centripetal force.
Step-by-step explanation:
When backing to the right, you should turn the steering wheel to the right. This will cause the rear of the vehicle to move in the direction you are steering. The same concept applies to riding a bicycle or a motorcycle, where the direction in which you tip or turn the handlebar dictates the direction the bike will move. Understanding the relationship between steering and vehicle direction is important in physics due to concepts like centripetal force and Newton's laws of motion.
For example, if a physics student notices that pulling back lightly on the right handlebar of a motorcycle tips the cycle to the left and produces a left turn, this happens because of the bike's design and the physics of motion. When the right handlebar is pulled back, the front wheel is slightly turned to the right. However, the friction between the tire and the road surface causes the bike to lean to the left, creating a leftward turn due to the change in the direction of the resultant force on the bike.
Similarly, when experiencing a curve that is ideally banked for your car's speed, ideally, you should not feel yourself thrown to either side. This is because the centripetal force required for the turn is provided by the normal force from the banking of the road, balancing the centrifugal sensation. If the curve is banked correctly, the force exerted on you by the car seat will be directed straight down, preventing the feeling of being thrown to one side as the car keeps its stable path through the curve.