Question

“A 90.0 kg person rides a spinning amusement park ride that has a radius of 11.5 m. If the person’s tangential speed is 13.2 m/s, what is the magnitude of the centripetal force acting on the person? ”

Answer 1

Answer : Centripetal force is 1363.6 N

Explanation :

It is given that,

Mass of the person,
`m=90\ kg`

Radius of the circular path,
`r=11.5\ m`

Person's tangential speed,
`v=13.2\ m/s`

Centripetal force acting on the person is :

`F_c=(mv^2)/(r)`

`F_c=(90\ kg* (13.2\ m/s)^2)/(11.5\ m)`

`F_c=1363.6\ N`

So, the centripetal force acting on the person is 1363.6 N

Hence, this is the required solution.

Answer 2

Centripetal force = mass * centripetal acceleration. Centeipetal acceleration = (tangential speed )^2/ radius. So Centripetal acceleration a= v^2/ r = (13.2)^2/ 11.5 = 174.24/11.5 = 15.153 So Centripetal force = 90 * 15.1513 = 1363.77N