A space station is shaped like a ring and rotates to simulate gravity. If the radius of the space station is 150 m, at what frequency must it rotate so that it simulates Earth's gravity? [Hint: The apparent weight of the astronauts must be the same as their weight on Earth.]

what do i do with the radius?

1 answer

Use the radius in the formula

g = V^2/R

g is the centripetal acceleration that you want to achieve (equal to that of Earth's gravity). V is the velocity of the outer perimeter of the ring.

Once you have V, the rotation frequency is
f = 1/T = V/(2 pi R)
= [1/(2 pi)] * sqrt(g/R)