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Why do you fall in the forward direction when a moving bus brakes to a stop and fall backwards when it accelerates from rest?
Solution
Due to the inertia of the passenger
Everybody tries to maintain its state of motion or state of rest. If a body is at rest, then it tries to remain at rest. If a body is moving, then it tries to remain in motion. In a moving bus, a passenger moves with the bus. As the driver applies brakes, the bus comes to rest. But, the passenger tries to maintain his state of motion. As a result, a forward force is exerted on him.
Similarly, the passenger tends to fall backwards when the bus accelerates from rest. This is because when the bus accelerates, the inertia of the passenger tends to oppose the forward motion of the bus. Hence, the passenger tends to fall backwards when the bus accelerates forward.
Similar Questions
The following is the distance-time table of an object in motion:
| Time in seconds | Distance in metres |
| $0$ | $0$ |
| $1$ | $1$ |
| $2$ | $8$ |
| $3$ | $27$ |
| $4$ | $64$ |
| $5$ | $125$ |
| $6$ | $216$ |
| $7$ | $343$ |
$ (a)$ What conclusion can you draw about the acceleration? Is it constant, increasing, decreasing, or zero?
$(b) $ What do you infer about the forces acting on the object?
