A Ferris wheel ride goes around in a circle of radius 8m and is rotating at a speed of 6m/s. What is the approximate force of the seat on a 40kg rider if they are at the bottom of the Ferris Wheel?

Answer 1

At the bottom, the rider is feeling a force in the upward direction due to the centripetal acceleration due to moving in a circular way and also feeling a force in the downward direction due to gravity.

Centripetal acceleration is v²/r = (6 X 6)/8 = 9/2 m/s

Therefore net force on the 40 kg rider will be mg - ma in downward direction.

m(g - a) = 40(10-4.5) = 40 X 5.5 = 220 N