Aamc 11 - 42

[bob92]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I am not too sure as to why their reasoning for the answer makes sense.

Question 42 AAMC 11

At which point in Figure does the human riding in the centrifuge experience the strongest sense of gravity?

Relevant information :

Answer : point C where centripetal acceleration (a=v^2/r) is the closest to the acceleration of gravity g when the velocity is the greatest. Figure 2 shows this happens at C.

At point C, the velocity is 30 and R = 10 so wouldn't centripetal acceleration be 30^2/10 or 90m/s? Isn't that 10 times the value of gravity?

I am really confused? I picked A where V = 10 and so centripetal acceleration is 10^2/10 or 10m/s

 

[V5RED]

The passage states that the purpose of the centrifuge is to produce an artificial gravity on the rider. This artificial gravity is actually the normal force provided by the seat of the car on the rider as the centrifuge spins. When the centrifuge spins faster, the artificial gravitational force gets larger. At point C, the centrifuge spins its fastest, so the artificial gravity is the highest.

 

[MangoPlant]

The wording probably got you. It doesn't ask for most "realistic" (closest to earth's) sense of gravity, it just asks for the strongest (highest value) sense of gravity.

 

[bob92]

Ahh, got it! Although their wording implies that it is similar to the gravity of Earth in the answer