Does loop radius affect whether a rollercoaster car completes the loop?

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sillybilly
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im doing this eperiment on rollercoasters and i was wondering if loop radius effects the vehicle; like if the loop was to small will it make it through? or if the loop was to big will it make it or just simply fall off? :) THANKYOU
 

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Hi sillybilly! Welcome to PF! :smile:
sillybilly said:
im doing this eperiment on rollercoasters and i was wondering if loop radius effects the vehicle; like if the loop was to small will it make it through? or if the loop was to big will it make it or just simply fall off? :) THANKYOU

Yes, the minimum safe speed does depend on the loop radius.

The car will lose contact when the reaction force is zero …

and you can find when and whether that happens by using good ol' Newton's second law and the formula for centripetal acceleration :wink:
 
ohh yes thankyou that's wat i did i just wanted to no if i was on the right track fanks a ton YAY :)