Why when you are riding a bicycle do you need to first turn/lean right to make make a left turn, and vice versa?

216 views

Why when you are riding a bicycle do you need to first turn/lean right to make make a left turn, and vice versa?

In: 0

9 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Physics. If you try to turn without first moving the mass being suspended by two points of contact with the ground below to compensate for the lateral acceleration you will fall over.

Hold a string with your arm outstretched then spin. The dangling end of the string will move outward because of the acceleration it experiences going around a turn. Same thing happens to the person on the bike with its wheels being held in place by friction with the ground

(acceleration = (velocity squared)/(the radius of the turn))

You are viewing 1 out of 9 answers, click here to view all answers.