Consider the following statements: A 4-wheel vehicle moving a sharp circular path at high speed will 1. Overturn about its outer wheels 2. Overturn about its inner wheels 3. Skid outwards 4. Skid inwards Which of these statements are correct?

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Q: 26 (IAS/2003)
Consider the following statements: A 4-wheel vehicle moving a sharp circular path at high speed will
1. Overturn about its outer wheels
2. Overturn about its inner wheels
3. Skid outwards
4. Skid inwards
Which of these statements are correct?

question_subject: 

Science

question_exam: 

IAS

stats: 

0,10,16,10,6,6,4

keywords: 

{'skid inwards': [0, 0, 1, 0], 'inner wheels': [0, 0, 1, 0], 'outer wheels': [0, 0, 1, 0], 'skid': [0, 0, 1, 0], 'wheel vehicle': [0, 0, 1, 0], 'sharp circular path': [0, 0, 1, 0], 'overturn': [0, 0, 1, 0]}

When a four-wheel vehicle is moving in a sharp circular path at high speed, two main forces come into play: centripetal force and friction.

Overturn about its outer wheels: The centripetal force required to keep the vehicle moving in a circular path is provided by the friction between the tires and the road surface. When the vehicle is moving at high speed and takes a sharp turn, the weight of the vehicle tends to shift towards the outer wheels due to the centrifugal force. This can cause the vehicle to overturn or lean towards the outer side of the turn, putting more load on the outer wheels.

Skid outwards: As the vehicle takes a sharp turn at high speed, the friction between the tires and the road surface plays a crucial role. However, if the speed is too high or the tires don`t have sufficient grip, they can lose traction and start to skid. In this case, the skid would occur in the outward direction, away from the center of the turn.

The other statements (2 and 4) are incorrect:

Overturn about its inner wheels: In a sharp turn, the weight of the vehicle shifts towards the outer wheels due to the centrifugal force. As a result, the inner wheels have less load on them, reducing the likelihood of overturning about the inner wheels.

Skid inwards: If the tires lose traction and start to skid, it would typically be in the direction away from the center of the turn (outwards) rather than towards the center (inwards).

Therefore, the correct statements are 1 and 3.

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