A particularly scary roller coaster contains a loop-the-loop in which the car and rider are completely upside down. If the radius of the loop is $13.2 \mathrm {~m}$ with what minimum speed must the car traverse the loop so that the rider does not fall out while upside down at the top? Assume the rider is not strapped to the car.
A) 11.4 m/s
B) 12.5 m/s
C) 10.1 m/s
D) 14.9 m/s

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The minimum speed at the top of the loop can be found using the formula $ v = \sqrt{g \cdot r} $, where $ g $ is the acceleration due to gravity (approximately $ 9.8 \, \text{m/s}^2 $) and $ r $ is the radius of the loop. Plugging in the values, $ v = \sqrt{9.8 \times 13.2} \approx 11.4 \, \text{m/s} $.

A Particularly Scary Roller Coaster Contains a Loop-The-Loop in Which 13.2 m13.2 \mathrm {~m}13.2 m

A Particularly Scary Roller Coaster Contains a Loop-The-Loop in Which $13.2 \mathrm {~m}$