Question

The tip of a fan blade is 0.61 m from the center of the fan. The fan turns at a constant speed and completes 2 rotations every 1.0 s.

What is the centripetal acceleration of the tip of the fan blade?

6.0 m/s2
48 m/s2
53 m/s2
96 m/s2

Answer 1

Centripetal acceleration a = v^2/r with v = 2πr f. Here r = 0.61 m and f = 2.0 Hz, so v = 2π(0.61)(2) ≈ 7.66 m/s. Then a = v^2/r ≈ (7.66^2)/0.61 ≈ 96 m/s^2.

Answer: 96 m/s^2.