Motion Along Curved Paths Video Lessons

Example

Problem: A roller-coaster car shown in Figure P8.72 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 P6.17 (page 170) shows an actual design.

FREE Expert Solution

In this problem, we'll be dealing with gravitational potential energy, kinetic energy, and centripetal force/acceleration.

Centripetal acceleration:

$\overline{){\mathbf{a}}{\mathbf{=}}\frac{{\mathbf{v}}^{\mathbf{2}}}{\mathbf{r}}}$

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Problem Details

A roller-coaster car shown in Figure P8.72 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 P6.17 (page 170) shows an actual design.