Seed Question: What Force Determines the Maximum Speed You Can Take a Level Turn At? Be

RC Car Racing

Seed Question: What force determines the maximum speed you can take a level turn at? Be specific.

Exploration: Let’s calculate the fastest possible lap time (Tmin) for an RC car in terms of the radius R and the coefficient of static friction μs, and compare with actual driving times.

Theory: Calculate Tmin in terms of R and μs. Hint: what is v in terms of R and T? Use the 3 Step Plan!

Procedure: Pull car sideways using a spring scale to measure fs max. Use a balance to get the mass of the car. Drive the car to see how close drivers can come to achieving Tmin.

Data: fsmax =

m =

R = 1.5 m

Actual Tmin =

Calcs/Results: μs = ?

Theoretical Tmin = ?

Big Result: How close did drivers come to matching the theoretical Tmin? Do a percent error calculation using the fastest actual lap time.

For Further Contemplation: ?