How would I measure the speed of a pendulum thats is attached to a rotating platform? :)?

Question

This is a model of a 'Swing Carousel' ride at a funfair. I have made for a physics project and I'm having awful trouble .. Thank you!

Answer 1

Not quite sure what you want. Are you looking simply for the velocity of the carousel seat?

Anyhow, since I did not know what a "Swing Carousel" was, I looked it up on the web and found a great applet on how it works. See: http://www.walter-fendt.de/ph11e/carousel.htm

I think the applet has everything you need to solve the question on the velocity of the seat. It can do the math for you. If you want to solve it yourself, it is a vector problem and you solve for the centripetal acceleration. See the "Carousel with Forces" and the "Sketch" at the applet site.

Good luck