The Counterintuitive Physics of Turning a Bike
Thanks to http://www.harrys.com for sponsoring this video – use offer code MinutePhysics for $5 off your first purchase A HUGE thanks to Michael Aranda for aerial and slow motion photography...
==========
If you’re riding a bike and want to turn right, you might think that you should turnthe handlebars to the right. However, that’s wrong.Because, unlike a car where turning the wheels merely changes the direction the car is pointed,turning the front wheel makes a bike lean. When you turn the bike wheel to the right,the wheel goes to the right, right out from under you and the rest of the bike. So nowyou’re leaning to the left, and the force on the bike from the ground will be directedto the left, and a leftward force, of course, makes you go to the left. Since physics seemsdetermined that you’re going left, you’d probably better just give in and let the handlebarsturn to the left, too.And that’s how you turn left on a bike – by first turning right. If yo...
==========
If you’re riding a bike and want to turn right, you might think that you should turnthe handlebars to the right. However, that’s wrong.Because, unlike a car where turning the wheels merely changes the direction the car is pointed,turning the front wheel makes a bike lean. When you turn the bike wheel to the right,the wheel goes to the right, right out from under you and the rest of the bike. So nowyou’re leaning to the left, and the force on the bike from the ground will be directedto the left, and a leftward force, of course, makes you go to the left. Since physics seemsdetermined that you’re going left, you’d probably better just give in and let the handlebarsturn to the left, too.And that’s how you turn left on a bike – by first turning right. If yo...
