Circular Motion Forces Exerted On Ferris Wheel

[cal.queen92]

Homework Statement

A man of 80.0 kg is standing in the cabin of a Ferris wheel of radius 30.0 m rotating at 1.0 rpm. What are the forces that the feet of the man exert on the floor of the cabin when he reaches the highest point and the lowest point?

Homework Equations

Newton's Second law

The Attempt at a Solution

I started by drawing a free body diagram of the situation with the ferris wheel cabin at both the top and bottom of the ferris wheel, Where two forces act on each: Normal force & gravitational force (mass*gravity).

I know that when the cabin is at the top, the centripetal acceleration is pointing downwards and when the cabin is at the bottom of the ferris wheel, the centripetal acceleration is pointing upwards.

Now, I'm not sure what the force of the man feet on the cabin would be, I can only guess it would be the gravitational force, in which case I use Newton's second law to solve for this force. But this does not seem correct;

----- is the weight equal to the force of the mans feet exerted on the cabin? ----

 

[Doc Al]

The force of the man's feet on the cabin will equal the normal force. Solve for the normal force using Newton's 2nd law.

 

[cal.queen92]

Thank you!