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Q.What is expected to happen if one travels fast over a speed breaker? Why?

Maharashtra MsbshseTextbookSubjectiveImportance★★★★★
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✓ Free question

At the hump's crest, mg−N=mv2/rmg-N=mv^2/r: too fast → N hits zero → airborne. The breaker's small radius makes the threshold speed deliberately low.

Cresting a speed breaker, the vehicle briefly follows a vertical circular arc of small radius r (a metre or less). At the top, mg−N=mv2/rmg - N = mv^2/r, so N=m(g−v2/r)N = m(g - v^2/r): the faster the crossing, the smaller the normal reaction. At v=rgv = \sqrt{rg}, N = 0 — the road no longer presses on the wheels — and beyond it the vehicle cannot stay on the arc at all: it becomes momentarily AIRBORNE, leaving the surface at the crest and landing beyond it. With r ≈ 0.5–1 m this threshold is only ≈ 2–3 m/s (7–11 km/h)! Consequences: a hard landing jolt through the suspension, momentary loss of steering and braking (no contact, no friction), discomfort or injury to occupants, and possible underbody damage. Hence the physics-mandated advice: cross speed breakers slowly, keeping v≪rgv \ll \sqrt{rg} so N stays comfortably positive.

✓Final answer

The vehicle gets airborne (N → 0 at v=rgv=\sqrt{rg}, a low speed for a breaker's small radius), then lands with a jolt with steering/braking briefly lost — which is why speeding over a breaker is dangerous.

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