Final answer:
The proper braking method on steep curves involves reducing speed to 5-10 mph below the safe speed and then releasing the brakes. Concepts like ideal speed, coefficient of friction, centripetal force, and total acceleration are physics principles that apply to vehicle motion and control on curves.
Step-by-step explanation:
The proper method of braking while going down long or steep curves entails reducing your speed by braking until you are approximately 5 to 10 mph below the safe speed, and then releasing your brakes. This technique is known as 'squeeze' braking and helps in maintaining control over the vehicle and minimizing brake wear. When addressing questions like calculating the ideal speed for taking a curve, or finding the minimum coefficient of friction required at a given speed, we are dealing with the physics of motion, including concepts like centripetal force, friction, and the forces acting on a vehicle moving through a curve.
When determining whether to fight a speeding ticket in court based on skid mark analysis, it's important to consider the calculation of speed from skid marks, which involves physics equations relating the length of skid marks to the vehicle's speed. For instance, one would need to know the coefficient of friction between the tires and road surface, and other factors that might affect braking distance, such as road condition or slope.
Regarding a race car's total acceleration when its speed drops on a curve, we combine the centripetal acceleration (due to the change in direction) with the tangential acceleration (due to the change in speed) to find the total acceleration vector.