R

F
w
=mg

mg - R = mv
2
r
mg - R = mv
2
r
Car will take off when R=0
mg = mv
2
r
mg = mv
2
r
mg = mv
2
r
v = gr

Car will take off when v=gr
Car travelling over a hill/bridge
Example
Show that a car will lose contact with a bridge of 5m radius
if it travels at a velocity greater then 7ms
-1
.
v = gr

v = 9.98 x 5

v = 9.98 x 5

v = 7.06 ~7ms
-1
Question
1. An idea was suggested that roads to prevent speeding,
roads could be built as a series of bumps such that
speeding cars would leave the ground and make driving
too fast uncomfortable. At 30mph (13.4ms
-1
) what would be
the required radius of these bumps?
2. A car travels over as humpback bridge with a radius of
curvature of 45m. Calculate the maximum speed of the car
if its road wheels are to stay in contact with the bridge.
R

R mg = mv
2
r
R mg = mv
2
r
R = mg + mv
2
r
The force at the bottom of the dip is
the weight + the centripetal force
F
w
=mg

r
Big dipper
Example
The big one at Blackpool causes its occupants to experience 3.5g
acceleration in the first dip. The velocity at this point is 34ms
-1

(74mph). What must the radius of the curve of the track be?
a
R
= g + v
2
r
(a = F/m)
F
R
= mg + mv
2
r
r(a
R
g) = v
2
r = v
2
(a
R
g)
r = 34
2
(9.98 x 3.5) 9.98 g)
r = 46m
Questions
2. A fairground ride has a radius of curvature of 78m at the
bottom of the first dip. What is the acceleration acting on
the carriage as it travels through the dip at 40ms
-1
?
How heavy would an 80kg individual feel?
3.A toy hot wheels car of mass 75g rolls down a plastic
track of radius 2m at a velocity of 1ms
-1
. The track joiners
can withstand a force of 1.0N.
Will the track come apart?
R + mg
When v
2
=gr, the terms in the
equation cancel such that R=0
and the passenger would feel
weightless.
r
Over the top!
r
mv
R mg
2
= +
mg
r
mv
R =
2
Example
How fast (in rads
-1
) would a horizontally rotating fairground ride
need to rotate if a passenger against the inner wall were to feel
weightless at the top of the ride? (r=5m)
F
R
+ mg
r
mg
r
mv
F
R
=
2
r v e =
mg
r
r m
F
R
=
2 2
e
mg r m F
R
=
2
e
mr
mg F
R
+
=
2
e
r
g
= e
1
4 . 1

= rads e
Questions
5. The International Space Station orbits the Earth at an
altitude of 350km with a tangential velocity of 7700ms
-1
.
An 80kg astronaut feels no weight. What is the value of g
at this altitude?
6. How slowly can you swing a 50g rubber bung on the end
of a 1m long string? (calculate T)

N
mg


r

N
F
h


N
F
v

F
v
=NCos
Centripetal force Balances weight
Tan = NSin = F
h
= mv
2
NCos F
v
mgr
F
h
=mv
2
r
Banked track
F
v
=mg
F
h
=NSin
To eliminate the sideways force on the
car, the horizontal component of N
must provide the centripetal force and
the vertical component of N must
balance the weight of the car.
Tan = v
2
gr
v
2
=grTan
N
mg


r
Banked track
For a car travelling at 31ms
-1
(70mph) around a corner of
radius 250m; what must the angle of camber be to negate
sideways forces?
|
|
.
|

\
|
=

gr
v
Tan
2
1
u
gr
v
Tan
2
= u
u grTan v =
2
|
|
.
|

\
|

=

250 98 . 9
31
2
1
Tan u
|
|
.
|

\
|

=

250 98 . 9
31
2
1
Tan u
= 21 u
Questions
7. The Manchester velodrome has a 42 degree banking
with a turn radius of 20m (on the sprint line).
How fast would a sprinter have to travel for there to be no
net force causing sideways motion?
How would this answer change if travelling along the top of
the banking?

8. The Suzuka 130R corner has a radius of 130m and F1
cars travel through it at a speed of 310kmh
-1
.
What angle would this corner need to be banked at such
that the drivers did not have to turn in to it?