A question on circular motion.... please help me now ASAP

[albertlee]

One question, why does the normal force of a car on a banked road is actually greater than the downwards mg newtons of the car? shouldn't the normal force be simply a reaction force to one of the components of the weight of the car?

 

please help~~~thanks

[insane_alien]

Ok, what force is needed for circular motion? and where does it come from?

[albertlee]

It needs a force pushing the car towards the center... However, that force is a component of the normal force............

[insane_alien]

yup. so it comes from the normal force. for the normal force to provide this component and for it to not go through the track the normal force has to be <insert word here> than the weight.

 

Its the centrifuge effect.

[swansont]

N = mg implies a static situation, i.e. F = N-mg = 0

 

But a car travelling in a circle is accelerating (centripetal), so F > 0

 

(N_y=mg will still hold true, however)