Question

An acrobatic airplane performs a loop at an airshow. The centripetal acceleration the plane experiences is 14.7 m/s2. If it takes the pilot 45.0 seconds to complete the loop, what is the radius of the loop? Round your answer to the nearest whole number.


m

Answer 1

Use a = 4π^2 r / T^2, so r = a T^2 / (4π^2).

With a = 14.7 m/s^2 and T = 45.0 s:
r = (14.7)(45.0^2) / (4π^2) = (14.7)(2025) / 39.4784 ≈ 754 m.

Answer: 754 m.