Question

A merry go round at the park is spinning. You stand on the outer edge and are traveling at constant speed of 5 m/s. You walk halfway toward the center. What happened to your acceleration?

Answer 1

Answer:

a' = 2a

Explanation:

The acceleration during this circular motion is the centripetal acceleration. Initially, the acceleration will be given as:

a = v²/r   --------------------- equation (1)

Where,

a = centripetal acceleration at outer edge

v = speed of merry go round = 5 m/s

r = distance from center of round to person (outer edge)

Now, when the person moves half way towards center. Then, the acceleration becomes:

a' = v²/r'

where,

r' = r/2

Therefore,

a' = v²/(r/2)

a' = 2v²/r

using equation (1):

a' = 2a