Question

A stone of mass m tied to one end of a string of length l is rotated in a circle with the other end of the string as the centre. The speed of the stone is v. If the string breaks, the stone will ___________

(a) Move towards the centre

(b) Move away from the centre

(c) Move along tangent

(d) Stop

I had been asked this question in an interview for job.

Enquiry is from Friction and Motion topic in portion Laws of Motion of Engineering Physics I

Answer 1

Right answer is (c) Move along tangent

Easy explanation: When the string breaks, the centripetal force becomes zero. The stone moves along the tangent to the circular path. That is in the direction of velocity.