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Grade 10Mechanics

Why do tires grip the road better on level ground than they do when going uphill or downhill?

Profile image of Hrishant Goswami
11 Years agoGrade 10
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1 Answer

Profile image of Jitender Pal
11 Years ago
The amount of gripping between the tires and the road depends on the contact force between them that is friction. The friction in turn depends on the magnitude of the normal force generated from the ground.
In case the car is on the horizontal level road, the magnitude of the normal force is proportional to the magnitude of its weight. However on an inclined slope, the normal force has a horizontal component in addition to the vertical, which does not contribute in increasing the friction.
Therefore the frictional force between the tires and the road is more on a level road than on an inclined slope, thereby allowing car to grip better.