- #1
Bensky
- 82
- 0
Homework Statement
A pilot flies an airplane in a vertical circular loop at a constant speed of v = 160 m/s. If the pilot's apparent weight at the top of the loop is one-third of his true weight on the ground, find the radius R of the plane's circular path.
Answer: R= 1960m
Homework Equations
F_net = ma
a_normal = v^2 / R
The Attempt at a Solution
Top of the loop
-----------------------
mg - N = mv^2 / R
=> N = mg - mv^2/R
mg - mv^2/R = (1/3) * mg
g - v^2/R = (1/3)g
-25600 / R = (-2/3)g
=> R = 3918.367347 m
This is wrong. The answer should be 1960 m, which is exactly half of my answer strangely enough. I am not seeing what I did wrong here at all, can someone point out where I screwed up?
Thank you