At what minimum speed must a roller coaster be ¬traveling when upside down at the top of a circle so that the passengers do not fall out? Assume a radius of curvature of 7.6 m

What will be an ideal response?


Answer: The maximum speed at which the passenger won't fall down must satisfy: mv2/r = FG (The centripetal force just equals the force of gravity). At that time normal force is equal 0 - the passengers are weightless for an instant.

mv2/r = FG
mv2/r = mg
v2/r = g
v = sqrt (rg) = sqrt [(7.6 m)((9.80 m/s/s)]) = 8.6 m/s

Physics & Space Science

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