Which statement best describes centrifugal force as a car approaches a curve?

Which statement best describes centrifugal force as a car approaches a curve?

• A. It increases the speed of the vehicle
• B. It pushes the vehicle to the outside of the curve
• C. It reduces the friction between the vehicle and the road surfaces
• D. It causes the vehicle to skid and roll over

Answer: (B)

As a car turns, the vehicle’s inertia wants to keep moving straight ahead. In the driver’s perspective, this tendency feels like a force pushing toward the outside of the curve—centrifugal force. The tires and road must supply an inward force (through friction) to bend the path, so the outward push is the correct way to describe what happens as you approach a curve. The other ideas don’t fit: centrifugal force doesn’t increase speed, it doesn’t reduce tire-road friction, and skidding or rollover are outcomes of too much lateral demand or too little friction, not the outward push itself.

As a car turns, the vehicle’s inertia wants to keep moving straight ahead. In the driver’s perspective, this tendency feels like a force pushing toward the outside of the curve—centrifugal force. The tires and road must supply an inward force (through friction) to bend the path, so the outward push is the correct way to describe what happens as you approach a curve. The other ideas don’t fit: centrifugal force doesn’t increase speed, it doesn’t reduce tire-road friction, and skidding or rollover are outcomes of too much lateral demand or too little friction, not the outward push itself.