Final answer:
The correct option is a. Hydroplaning is when a car skims on water due to loss of traction, leading to less control. If a car hits ice while rounding a curve, it will slide off in a straight line due to a lack of centripetal force.
Step-by-step explanation:
When a car skims along the surface of water on the road, this phenomenon is known as hydroplaning. Hydroplaning occurs when a vehicle's tires encounter more water than they can scatter or when the pressure in the front of the tire pushes water underneath it, leading to a loss of traction and preventing the tire from making contact with the road. As a result, the car glides on the water's surface, which can lead to a loss of control.
In the case where a car rounds a curve and encounters a patch of ice with a very low coefficient of kinetic friction, the car will slide off the road following Newton's first law. Because the radial friction with the tires, which supplies the centripetal force, is nearly zero on ice, the car will continue in a straight line path, tangent to the curve it was previously following, since there is no force to keep it moving along the curved path.