The front and rear sprockets on a bicycle have radii of 9.00 and 5.10 cm, respectively. The angular speed of t

Question

The front and rear sprockets on a bicycle have radii of 9.00 and 5.10 cm, respectively. The angular speed of the front sprocket is 6.40 rad/s. Determine the following.
The linear speed of the chain as it moves between the sprockets.
(b) The centripetal acceleration of the chain as it passes around the rear sprocket.

Answer 1

From front sprocket you find the linear speed of the chain as v = w1*R1 = 6.4*9 = 57.6 cm/sec. Then the angular speed of the rear sprocket is: w2 = v/R2 = 11.29412 rad/sec. The centripetal acceleration in the rear sprocket is: R2*w2^2 = 650.5412 cm/sec^2.