Accident Analysis

Classical Mechanics Level 1

This bus toppled when it took a sharp turn very quickly. Which way was the bus turning (from the point of view of the bus driver) before it toppled?

It was turning left It was turning right Cannot be determined

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Pranshu Gaba by Pranshu Gaba , 22, India

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3 solutions

Jason Kelly
Mar 13, 2017

Whatever direction the bus turns, there is an equal and opposite force acting on its body. This force results from the friction of its tires in contact with the ground. If the bus turns sharply, sufficient enough to generate a force that surpasses the coefficient of friction, then the bus will capsize in the opposite direction to which it turned; hence, in the case of toppling right, it had turned left. You're welcome 😀

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Stephen Rasey
Jul 9, 2017

To answer this, you must assume that the front of the bus in the diagram is facing the you. There are some hints: the white dots are most likely headlights, but it is not without ambiguity. We could be looking at the back of the bus with large rear windows.

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Joy Patel
Mar 28, 2017

Is this logic correct: when the bus was turning left ,the lower part remained with the road but the upper part had inertia to go straight due to which it felt towards its right.Please correct me if I am wrong. Cheers.

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