A car is driven at a constant speed over a circular hill and then into a circular valley with the same radius. At the top of the hill, the normal force on the driver from the car seat is 0. The driver's mass is 70.0 kg. What is the magnitude of the normal force on the driver from the seat when the car passes through the bottom of the valley?
The answer is 1.37 x 10 ^3 N, but I am not sure how to get that answer.
2006-10-08 10:41:12 · 1 answers · asked by afchica101 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
On a flat surface, the normal force is 70*9.8 = 686 N At the top of the hill, the trajectory is such that the normal force is 0 so, for the speed and curvature, the resultant force must be -686N for the *net* force to be 0. With the curvature in the opposite direction, the centripital force will act in the same direction as gravity to produce a total force of 2*686N = 1,372N.
Doug
2006-10-08 10:50:00 · answer #1 · answered by doug_donaghue 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋