Chapter 10, Problem 88GP

BIO Preventing Bone Loss in Space When astronauts return from prolonged space flights, they often suffer from bone loss, resulting in brittle bones that may take weeks for their bodies to rebuild. One solution may be to expose astronauts to periods of substantial “g forces” in a centrifuge carried aboard their spaceship. To test this approach, NASA conducted a study in which four people spent 22 hours each in a compartment attached to the end of a 28-foot arm that rotated with an angular speed of 10.0 rpm (a) What centripetal acceleration, in terms of g, did these volunteers experience? (b) What was their linear speed?