Final answer:
To determine the passenger's acceleration at the lowest point of a Ferris wheel, we calculate the centripetal acceleration using the wheel's radius and its angular velocity, leading to an acceleration of approximately 4.1 m/s² downward.
Step-by-step explanation:
The subject of the question involves the concept of centripetal acceleration in the context of a carnival Ferris wheel from high school Physics. To find the acceleration of a passenger at the lowest point during the ride, we can use the formula α = ω²r, where α is the centripetal acceleration, ω is the angular velocity in radians per second, and r is the radius. First, we convert revolutions per minute to radians per second by multiplying five revolutions per minute by 2π to get the distance in radians and then dividing by 60 to convert minutes to seconds. This yields an angular velocity of ω = 5 × 2π / 60 rad/s. Plugging this into the formula along with the radius of 15 meters gives an acceleration α = (5 × 2π / 60)² × 15 m/s². Calculating this yields a downward acceleration of about 4.1 m/s², which corresponds to option C.