A bucket of mass 1.70 kg is whirled in a vertical circle of radius 1.50 m. At the lowest point of its motion the tension in the rope supporting the bucket is 20.0 N.

Question

1) Find the speed of the bucket.
2) How fast must the bucket move at the top of the circle so that the rope does not go slack?

Answer 1

at the lowest point, tension= mg+v^2/r

solve for velocity

At the top, tension= v^2/r-mg
when tension is zero, the rope is slack, solve for velocity.

Answer 2

m=t^a2

Answer 3

bobpursley forgot to put the second mass in the equation.

whenever there is a v^2/r , remember to multiply it by mass.

tension[low] = mg + (v^2/r * m)
tension[high] = (v^2/r * m) - mg