Final answer:
A race car going around a circular track is accelerating even at constant speed due to the centripetal acceleration directed towards the center of the track, which arises from the directional change of velocity.
Step-by-step explanation:
The concept we are exploring here relates to Newton's laws of motion and the principles of circular motion. When a car completes a lap on a circular track, it is demonstrating several physical phenomena. Even if a car is moving at a constant speed, if it's changing direction in circular motion, it's still accelerating — this type of acceleration is called centripetal acceleration, which is directed towards the center of the circle.
This happens because acceleration is a vector quantity, meaning it has both magnitude and direction, and when an object's direction changes, its velocity changes—even if its speed does not—and thus it is accelerating. The example of the Australian Grand Prix Formula 1 race car. As the car moves around the circular path, its wheels are spinning, thus undergoing rotational motion.
The car is continually changing the direction of its velocity, therefore the car is accelerating due to the centripetal force acting towards the track's center. If we were to draw an arrow showing the direction of the net force on this car while rounding a bend, it would point inwards, towards the center of the circular path.