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jeanjacket
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Homework Statement
Here's the situation:
A jet pilot puts an aircraft with a constant speed into a vertical circular loop. If the speed of the aircraft is 700 km/h and the radius of the circle is 2.0 km, calculate the normal forces exerted on the seat by the pilot at the bottom and top of the loop. Express your answer in terms of the pilot's weight mg.
a) at the bottom
b) at the top
I actually have the answers to the problem, but of course it doesn't help me understand the problem nor the process in getting there. Not sure which angular motion/centripetal force equations to use. But if it helps you verify results, here are the answers:
At bottom: 2.93*mg
At the top: .929*mg
I would really appreciate any help, even if it's just pointing me in the right direction as far as which equation to use, I'm not necessarily asking anyone to work it out. Thanks in advance!
Homework Equations
Not necessarily sure which to use, here's some conversions just for quick reference:
700 km/h = 194.444 m/s
2.0 km = 2000 m
Possible eqns:
Angular Velocity = [tex]\omega[/tex] = [tex]\Delta[/tex][tex]\theta[/tex]/[tex]\Delta[/tex]t
Angular Acceleration = [tex]\alpha[/tex] = [tex]\Delta[/tex][tex]\omega[/tex]/[tex]\Delta[/tex]t
[tex]\textbf{F}[/tex][tex]_{centripetal}[/tex] = mass x accel(centrip) = m[tex]v^{2}/r[/tex]
[tex]\textbf{F}[/tex][tex]_{gravity}[/tex] = mg
The Attempt at a Solution
Can't quite figure out where to start...