Question

A boy is whirling a stone tied with a string in a horizontal circular path. If the string breaks, the stone

Options

• will continue to move in the circular path

• will move along a straight line towards the centre of the circular path

• will move along a straight line tangential to the circular path

• will move along a straight line perpendicular to the circular path away from the boy

Answer 1

will move along a straight line tangential to the circular path

Explanation:

If the string breaks, the force that was causing it to move along a circular path, i.e., centripetal force is no longer there, so the stone will move along a straight line tangential to the circular path.