Final answer:
An amusement park ride that functions like a pendulum shows riders experiencing forces like gravity and centripetal acceleration. Roller coaster cars in vertical loops rely on gravity and normal forces to maintain circular motion, with speed affecting the forces experienced at the top of the loop.
Step-by-step explanation:
Riders in an amusement park ride shaped like a Viking ship experience pendulum motion. At the peak of its arc, the ship is momentarily motionless before swinging down due to gravity. During a roller coaster's vertical loop, when the car goes over the top at the optimal speed, gravity provides the necessary centripetal force to keep the car on the track. If the car travels faster than this speed, the main other force acting would be the normal force exerted by the track on the car, directed towards the center of the loop. Conversely, if the car is slower, the net force is still towards the center of the loop, but the contribution of gravity to centripetal force is less, and the normal force must make up for this to maintain circular motion.
For example, the speed at the bottom of the arc for a pendulum ride determines the centripetal acceleration experienced by the riders. If a roller coaster car travels at the top of a loop with a specific radius of curvature at a speed that provides a downward acceleration of 1.50 g, it will stay on the track due to the increased centripetal acceleration compared to gravity at that point.