Unlike a roller coaster, the seats in a Ferris wheel swivel so that the rider is always seated upright. An 80-ft-diameter Ferris wheel rotates once every 24 s.

Question

A. What is the apparent weight of a 60 kg passenger at the lowest point of the circle?

b. What is the apparent weight of a 60 kg passenger at the highest point of the circle?

Answer 1

A. m g + m v^2/R
B. m g - m v^2/R
where
m = 60 kg
g = 9.81 m/s^2 or so
R = 40 feet = 12.2 meters
v = 2 pi R / 24 = 3.19 m/s