Problem 4-62 Centripetal acceleration - Part 2 - C

An astronaut in training is spinning around in a device that rotates at 30 revolutions per minute. (a) If the astronaut is \(7.5\; m\) from the centre of the device, what is the magnitude of the centripetal acceleration? (b) Express the answer in terms of "\(g,\)" the magnitude of the acceleration due to gravity.
[Ans. (a) \(74\; m/s^2\)   (b) \(7.6\; g\)]

Accumulated Solution

The expression for centripetal acceleration is: \(a_c = v^2/r\)

\(v = d/t\)

Correct!

The other choices are two of the Galilean equations which cannot be used in this problem where the acceleration is not constant.
The distance traveled in one revolution is:

(A)   \(0\) (since the final position = the initial position)

(B)   \(\pi r = 23.6 \;m\)

(C)   \(2\pi r = 47.1 \;m\)