A 70 cm diameter wheel is rotating at 1 300 revolutions per minute and a small 5g mass is fixed to the outer edge of the wheel. Calculate the strength and direction of the centripetal force that is exerted on the mass.

1 answer

First convert your angular speed from rpm to rad/s. You can then convert your angular speed to tangential speed with v = omega * r. (Be sure to convert that diameter into SI units!)

Newton's second law gives us F = ma, where this is centripetal acceleration, so
F = (mv^2)/r. You have m and r, and solved for v previously.

Note that this assumes a horizontal wheel.