Elm Street has a pronounced dip at the bottom of a steep hill before going back uphill on the other side. Your science teacher has asked everyone in the class to measure the radius of curvature of the dip. Some of your classmates are using surveying equipment, but you decide to base your measurement on what you’ve learned in physics. To do so, you sit on a spring scale, drive through the dip at different speeds, and for each speed record the scale’s reading as you pass through the bottom of the dip. Your data are as follows:
Speed (m/s) | Scale reading (N) |
5 | 599 |
10 | 625 |
15 | 674 |
20 | 756 |
25 | 834 |
Sitting on the scale while the car is parked gives a reading of 588 N. Analyze your data, using a graph, to determine the dip’s radius of curvature.
Want to see the full answer?
Check out a sample textbook solutionChapter 8 Solutions
Physics for Scientists and Engineers: A Strategic Approach with Modern Physics (4th Edition)
- The acceleration due to gravity, g, is constant at sea level on the Earth's surface. However, the acceleration decreases as an object moves away from the Earth's surface due to the increase in distance from the center of the Earth. Derive an expression for the acceleration due to gravity at a distance h above the surface of the Earth, gh. Express the equation in terms of the radius R of the Earth, g, and h. 8h = Suppose a 70.00 kg hiker has ascended to a height of 1815 m above sea level in the process of climbing Mt. Washington. By what percent has the hiker's weight changed from its value at sea level as a result of climbing to this elevation? Use g = 9.807 m/s² and R = 6.371 × 106 m. Enter your answer as a positive value. weight change = %arrow_forwardA skier/snowboarder starts at rest at the top of a snowy (friction-free) hill with height h1. After the bottom of this hill there is a small “jump” hill. The top of the jump has height h2 and a curvature of radius R. What is the minimum height of the starting hill, h1min, so that the skier/snowboarder jumps or “catches air” at the top of hill 2? Solve for h1min in terms of h2, R, and g. Hint: if the skier/snowboarder jumps, he/she/they lose contact with the snowy ground.arrow_forwardYou hopefully used g=9.8 m/s2 (or thereabouts). That is the gravitational acceleration near the earth's surface. if you rise high above the earth, the gravitational acceleration decreases. Specifically, the gravitational acceleration is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the earth's center. Equivalently, if you multiply the acceleration by the distance from the earth's center, you should get the same number for all heights. For this problem, take the radius of the earth as 3,902 miles, and calculate the gravitational acceleration of a satellite in low orbit, 182 miles above the surface.arrow_forward
- The mass of Venus is 81.5% that of the earth and its radius is 94.9% that of the earth. A. Compute the acceleration due to gravity on the surface of Venus from these data. B. What is the weight of a 5.0 kg rock on the surface of Venus?arrow_forwardResearchers studying the Great Pacific Garbage Patch release custom floating sensor packages to track the motion of microplastics around the Hawaiian Islands. Assume that each sensor tracks a circular path at a constant speed. Be mindful of the measurement units. A sensor deployed in the North Pacific takes a period of 45.0 days to complete one circular round trip, moving with a constant speed of 1.10m/s. a) Solve for the radius of the circular path that the North Pacific sensor tracks. b) Solve for the magnitude of the acceleration. Another sensor deployed in the South Pacific measures a constant speed of 1.30 m/s, and a constant acceleration of 2.30x10-6 m/s². c) Solve for the radius of the circular path that the South Pacific sensor tracks. d) Solve for the period (time to go in a circle) in days.arrow_forwardPlease consider this question: A train derailed while rounding an unbanked curve of radius 150 meters. A passenger on the train during the accident noticed that an unused strap was hanging at about a 15 degree angle to the vertical just before the derailment. How fast was the train moving at the time of the derailment? This is based on problem 27 of chapter 5 of Wolfson's Essential University Physics (3rd edition). The book itself has the answer 58 km/hour, which seems wrong to me. I keep coming up with something more like 71 km/hour. Can you make any sense of that?arrow_forward
- A ball tied to the end of a cable is spun ina circle with a radius 0.32 m making 3 revolutions every 7.2 seconds. What is the magnitude of the acceleration, a (in m/s ), of the ball? Give your answer accurate to one decimal place and enter only the number (and not the unit) below: a = Type your answer.arrow_forwardYou are on a boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean at the equator traveling in a hydrofoil going at a constant speed of 300 m/s. The water is perfectly still. What is your acceleration: a) If you’re heading due North? b) If you’re heading due East? c) If you’re heading straight up (something probably went wrong at this point). You may assume the following: The earth has a radius of 6371 km. The earth makes one full revolution every 24 hours. The gravitational constant at sea level is 9.81 m/s2. East and North are relative to the Earth’s axial north, not magnetic north.arrow_forwardThe car travels around the circular track having a radius of r = 300 m such that when it is at point A it has a velocity of 8 m/s, which is increasing at the rate of v = (0.08t) m/s², where t is in seconds. (Figure 1) Figure A X 1 of 1 Part A Determine the magnitude of the velocity when it has traveled one-third the way around the track. Express your answer to three significant figures and include the appropriate units. V = Submit Part B Value a = μA 0 Submit Request Answer Determine the magnitude of the acceleration when it has traveled one-third the way around the track. Express your answer to three significant figures and include the appropriate units. O μÀ Value Units Request Answer ? Units ?arrow_forward
- In a laboratory test of tolerance for high acceleration, a pilot is swung in a circle 14.514.5 m in diameter. It is found that the pilot blacks out when he is spun at 30.630.6 rpm (rev/min). At what acceleration (in SI units) does the pilot black out? Express this acceleration in terms of a multiple of g. If you want to decrease the acceleration by 25.025.0% without changing the diameter of the circle, by what percent must you change the time for the pilot to make one circle?arrow_forwardAfter landing on an exoplanet, an astronaut constructs a simple pendulum of length 49 cm. The pendulum completes 89 full swing cycles in a time of 101 s. What is the magnitude of the gravitational acceleration in m/s2 on the exoplanet? Give your answer to 2 decimal places.arrow_forwardFrom Newton's Second Law, F= ma. Derive an equation as acceleration v2 defined as ac = From the given equation of centripetal acceleration ac =. What will be the change in centripetal acceleration if the velocity changes to one-half of its original without changing the radius?arrow_forward
- College PhysicsPhysicsISBN:9781305952300Author:Raymond A. Serway, Chris VuillePublisher:Cengage LearningUniversity Physics (14th Edition)PhysicsISBN:9780133969290Author:Hugh D. Young, Roger A. FreedmanPublisher:PEARSONIntroduction To Quantum MechanicsPhysicsISBN:9781107189638Author:Griffiths, David J., Schroeter, Darrell F.Publisher:Cambridge University Press
- Physics for Scientists and EngineersPhysicsISBN:9781337553278Author:Raymond A. Serway, John W. JewettPublisher:Cengage LearningLecture- Tutorials for Introductory AstronomyPhysicsISBN:9780321820464Author:Edward E. Prather, Tim P. Slater, Jeff P. Adams, Gina BrissendenPublisher:Addison-WesleyCollege Physics: A Strategic Approach (4th Editio...PhysicsISBN:9780134609034Author:Randall D. Knight (Professor Emeritus), Brian Jones, Stuart FieldPublisher:PEARSON