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 dropped about 0.5 m. The people remained pinned against the wall without touching the floor. (a) Draw a force diagram for a person on this ride after the floor has dropped. (b) What minimum coefficient of static friction was required for the person not to slide downward to the new position of the floor? (c) Does your answer in part (b) depend on the person’s mass? (Note: When such a ride is over, the cylinder is slowly brought to rest. As it slows down, people slide down the wall to the floor.)
Gravitational force
In nature, every object is attracted by every other object. This phenomenon is called gravity. The force associated with gravity is called gravitational force. The gravitational force is the weakest force that exists in nature. The gravitational force is always attractive.
Acceleration Due to Gravity
In fundamental physics, gravity or gravitational force is the universal attractive force acting between all the matters that exist or exhibit. It is the weakest known force. Therefore no internal changes in an object occurs due to this force. On the other hand, it has control over the trajectories of bodies in the solar system and in the universe due to its vast scope and universal action. The free fall of objects on Earth and the motions of celestial bodies, according to Newton, are both determined by the same force. It was Newton who put forward that the moon is held by a strong attractive force exerted by the Earth which makes it revolve in a straight line. He was sure that this force is similar to the downward force which Earth exerts on all the objects on it.
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 dropped about 0.5 m. The people remained pinned against the wall without touching the floor. (a) Draw a force diagram for a person on this ride after the floor has dropped. (b) What minimum coefficient of static friction was required for the person not to slide downward to the new position of the floor? (c) Does your answer in part (b) depend on the person’s mass? (Note: When such a ride is over, the cylinder is slowly brought to rest. As it slows down, people slide down the wall to the floor.)
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