The equation below gives the maximum velocity in miles per hour that a vehicle can safely travel around a curve of radius r feet when friction is f. If the velocity is greater than Vmax, the tires will slip. Engineers find that under snowy conditions, Vmax = 15 miles per hour for a freeway off-ramp that has a radius of 50 feet. To the nearest tenth, what is the coefficient of friction for the off-ramp in these conditions?

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anonymous · Answer

attachment

anonymous · Answer

open up a new question

anonymous · Answer

@mertsj can you do something about him?

mertsj · Answer

I can.

anonymous · Answer

ok first step
DRAW A FREE BODY DIAGRAM

anonymous · Answer

always

anonymous · Answer

4 years of physic classes taught me that :P

anonymous · Answer

a free body diagram? Not familiar with that. This is from an Alg 2 class.

anonymous · Answer

oh well, its a force equation
Frictional force is defined as 
$$F_{friction}\le \mu N$$
where mu is the coefficient of friction and N is the normal force

normal force in this case would be the weight of the of the car

anonymous · Answer

now, because the car is travelling around a curve with radius 50 ft

it experiences what is known as centrifugal force

and it can be written as 
$$F= m \frac{v^2}{r}$$
where m is the mass of the object
v is the velocity the object is travelling around the curve
and r is the radius

anonymous · Answer

now to draw the free body diagram
this is a picture of the car from the top
|dw:1370570858292:dw|

anonymous · Answer

|dw:1370570909826:dw|
this is just showing the motion of hte car and is not part of the free body diagram

due to this motion, it causes the car to experience a force in this direction 

|dw:1370571028403:dw|