Final answer:
A car turning to the left requires sufficient friction between the tire and the road to provide the necessary centripetal force. Insufficient force leads the car to understeer and the tire to potentially hit the curb. This concept is crucial to understand the dynamics of car motion in Physics.
Step-by-step explanation:
When discussing the motion of a car turning to the left, a critical concept in Physics is centripetal force. For a car to turn safely without skidding, the friction between the tire and the road must be sufficient to provide the necessary centripetal force. If a car is turning to the left, the frictional force acts towards the center of the circular path, which is also to the left. This situation illustrates how a tire will hit the curb if the force is not adequate enough to keep the car on its intended path, causing the car to understeer and move outwards towards the curb.
In scenarios where other factors come into play, such as inertia or an uneven road surface, additional considerations have to be taken into account. However, the fundamental understanding starts with the interactions between the tires and the road surface. A practical application of this is when a vehicle navigates a turn at high speeds, and the driver must account for the centripetal force by steering appropriately to avoid the tire making unwanted contact with the curb.