Question

The Cajun Cliffhanger at Great AMerica is a ride in which occupants line the perimeter of a cylinder and spin in a circle at a high rate of turning. When the cylinder begins spinning very rapidly, the floor is removed from under the rider's feet. What affect does a doubling in speed have upon the centripetal force?

Answer 1

Explanation:

Centripetal Force is the force that keeps the object's rotation in a circular path and it's always directed towards the center of rotation. Mathematically, it is given as,

$F_{c} = \frac{mv^{2} }{r}$

From this equation it can be concluded that the centripetal force is proportional to the product of mass and the square of velocity. It is inversely proportional to the object's distance from the center.

Now in the above mentioned case, when the cylinder begins spinning very rapidly and it's speed becomes double. Then by applying the above equation we conclude that " the force will be increased four times if the speed is doubled as it is proportional to square of speed."