On the ride "Spindletop" at the amusement park Six Flags Over Texas, people stood against the inner wall of a hollow vertical cylinder with radius 2.5 m. The cylinder started to rotate, and when it reached a constant rotation rate of 0.60 rev/s, the floor on which the people were standing dropped about 0.5 m. The people remained pinned against the wall.
a) Draw a force diagram for a person on this ride, after the floor has dropped.
b) What minimum coefficient of static friction is required if the person on the ride is not to slide downward to the new position of the floor?
c) Does your answer in part b) depend on the mass of the passenger? (NOTE: When the ride is over, the cylinder is slowly brought to rest. As it slows down, people slide down the walls to the floor.)