A cylindrical spaceship has an inner radius of and is made to spin about its central…
PHYSICS · Multi-part · CBSE · Physics · Laws of Motion · Laws of Motion
Problem
A cylindrical spaceship has an inner radius of 5.0m and is made to spin about its central axis so that crew members standing on the curved inner wall feel as if they are under normal Earth gravity.
(i) Derive an expression for the angular speed ω that the spaceship must have so that the normal force on a crew member equals the weight of the member on Earth’s surface (g=9.8ms−2).
(ii) Calculate (a) this angular speed and (b) the corresponding time period of one complete rotation.
(iii) If the rotational speed accidentally drops to 80% of the value found in part (ii), determine the new apparent weight (normal force) experienced by a crew member of mass 65kg and express it as a fraction of the member’s true weight on Earth.