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When you go over the crest of a hill in a roller coaster, a force appears to lift you up out of your seat. This is a fictitious force.

a) True
b) False

User Jaydee
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1 Answer

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Final answer:

The force you feel lifting you out of your seat on a roller coaster is not a fictitious force, but a real change in the normal force, making the statement false. The real forces at play are gravity and normal force, which vary as the coaster goes over a hill.

Step-by-step explanation:

When you go over the crest of a hill in a roller coaster, the sensation of a force lifting you out of your seat is due to the inertia of your body wanting to continue moving in a straight line, but the coaster car is following the curved tracks. As the coaster goes over the crest, the force of gravity acting on you decreases because the normal force from the seat against your body becomes less.

This sensation is often misinterpreted as a fictitious force, but in reality, it is a decrease in normal force that you are experiencing, which is a real force. In an inertial frame of reference, the only forces at work would be gravity pulling you down and the normal force from the car seat pushing up; as the normal force decreases, you feel 'lifted' out of the seat.

The statement that the force lifting you out of your seat is a fictitious force is false. The forces involved are very real: they involve gravity and normal force, which change as you move along the coaster's path.

User Henry Cooke
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