Question

A Human Centrifuge To test the effects of high acceleration on the human body, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has constructed a large centrifuge at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston. In this device, astronauts are placed in a capsule that moves in a circular path with a radius of 15 m.
If the astronauts in this centrifuge experience a centripetal acceleration 9.0 times that of gravity, what is the linear speed of the capsule?

Answer 1

Answer:

2.4261 m/s

Explanation:

v = Linear Velocity of the capsule

$a_c$ = Centripetal acceleration = $9g=9\times 9.81$

r = Radius of the centrifuge = 15 m

Centripetal acceleration is given by

$a_c=\frac{v^2}{r}\\\Rightarrow v=\sqrt{\frac{a_c}{r}}\\\Rightarrow v=\sqrt{\frac{9\times 9.81}{15}}\\\Rightarrow v=2.4261\ m/s$

The linear speed of the capsule is 2.4261 m/s