front wheel drive car starts from rest and accelerates to the right. Knowing that the tires do not slip on the road, what is the direction of the friction force the road applies to the rear tire

The frictional force the road applies to the rear tire is static friction and it acts opposite to the direction in which the car is traveling.

Explanation:

This question suggests that the car is accelerating forward. Thus, the easiest way for us to know what friction is doing is for us to know what happens when we turn friction off.

Now, if there is no friction and the car is stopped, if we push down on the accelerator, it will make the front wheels to spin in a clockwise manner. This spin occurs on the frictionless surface with the rear wheels doing nothing while the car doesn't move.

Now, if we apply friction to just the front wheels, the car will accelerate forward while the back wheels would be dragging along the road and not be spinning. Thus, friction opposes the motion and as such, it must act im a direction opposite to where the car is going. This must be static friction.

The frictional force the road applies to the rear tire is static friction and it acts opposite to the direction in which the car is traveling.