Asmall car of mass m and a large car of mass 4m drive along a highway at constant speed. they approach a curve of radius r. both cars maintain the same acceleration a as they travel around the curve. how does the speed of the small car vs compare to the speed of the large car vl as they round the curve? hints

Both speeds are equals ⇒

Explanation:

We know that the small car has mass '''' and the large car has mass ''''.

We also know that they approach a curve of radius ''''.

Both cars maintain the same acceleration as they travel around the curve.

The centripetal acceleration in a curve has the following equation :

 (I)

Where '''' is centripetal acceleration

Where '''' is the tangential speed and where '''' is the radius of the curve.

If we use the equation (I) to find , we will find that the speed depends of the centripetal acceleration and the radius of the curve.

It doesn't depend of the mass. Therefore, the small car and the large car will have the same speed while they are travelling around the curve ⇒