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Question:

Conseptual Physics problem? Help?

A bug lands on a windshield wiper. Explain why the bug is more likely to be dislodged when the wipers are turned on at the high rather than the low setting.

Answer:

Well, if the wipers are moving at a higher speed then there is more force behind them, and that force is more likely to be enough to overcome the friction keeping the bug in place.
The windshield wipers are mounted on a pivot so they are a rotational piece. Any time you spin an object in a circle it experiences centrifugal forces. The faster you spin it the more centrifugal force. The windshield wipers on high, spin a faster semi circle speed (the wiper doesn't do a completer circle, it does a half and then reverses, but still gives centrifugal force on that wiper blade). The bug is having more centrifugal force on it trying to throw it outward and away from the pivot point of the wiper.

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