Chapter 7, Problem 82P

A roller-coaster car shown in Figure P7.82 is released from rest from a height h and then moves freely with negligible friction. The roller-coaster track includes a circular loop of radius R in a vertical plane. (a) First suppose the car barely makes it around the loop; at the top of the loop, the riders are upside down and feel weightless. Find the required height h of the release point above the bottom of the loop in terms of R. (b) Now assume the release point is at or above the minimum required height. Show that the normal force on the car at the bottom of the loop exceeds the normal force at the top of the loop by six times the car’s weight. The normal force on each rider follows the same rule. Such a large normal force is dangerous and very uncomfortable for the riders. Roller coasters are therefore not built with circular loops in vertical planes. Figure P5.22 (page 149) shows an actual design.