Question

Imagine that you are driving on a twisting mountain road. Describe the tangential and normal components of acceleration as you ascend, descend, twist right, and twist left.

Short answer

The tangential component of acceleration always points in the instantaneous direction of our motion, tangent to the curve defined by our path.

Step-by-step solution

Step 1. Given

You are driving on a twisting mountain road .

Step 2. Explanation

If the drive is on a twisting mountain road, the objective is to explain the tangential and normal components of acceleration when we ascend, descend, twist right and twist lefts.

The tangential component of acceleration always points in the instantaneous direction of our motion, tangent to the curve defined by our path. The normal component of acceleration is orthogonal to the direction of motion and points "into" the curve. So, if we curve to the left, it points to our left. If we curve to the right, it points to our right. If we are ascending, it points upward. If we are descending, it points downward.