Friction acting on Bicycle!
Consider a bicycle moving on a horizontal surface with uniform acceleration. Assume its wheels do not slip with respect to the ground. Which of the following are true?
(A) Both the front and the rear wheel would experience friction in the direction of the acceleration.
(B) The rear wheel would experience friction in the direction of the acceleration while the front wheel would not experience any friction.
(C) The rear wheel would experience friction in the opposite direction of the acceleration while the front wheel would experience friction in the direction of the acceleration.
(D) The rear wheel would experience friction in the direction of the acceleration while the front wheel would experience friction in the opposite direction of the acceleration.
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This can be understood from a free-body diagram for the front and rear wheel, the rear wheel experiences a torque due to the chain linked to the cyclist’s pedal system which provides it with the angular acceleration which in turn generates the friction acting in the forward (acceleration) direction. The front wheel is not linked to the chain and hence experiences only a linear impulse from it’s axle which provides a linear acceleration which in turn generates a backward (opposite to acceleration) friction. The net friction acting on both the wheels (forward) provides the bicycle with the net external force for the forward acceleration.