How can I solve this automobile physics problem involving a helium balloon?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Hellsing834
  • Start date Start date
AI Thread Summary
To solve the automobile physics problem involving the helium balloon, one must consider the effects of circular motion and the concept of a rigid body within the car. The child holding the balloon experiences a force due to the car's curved path, causing the string to deviate from the vertical. The key is to determine the minimum banking angle of the road for frictionless conditions, which will correlate to the angle of the balloon string. The problem requires the use of angular velocity and free body diagrams, but the mass of the balloon or the child is not necessary for this specific calculation. Understanding these principles will help in deriving the angle from the vertical.
Hellsing834
Messages
18
Reaction score
0
Hey guys, I needed help with this question:

An automobile traveling at 90 km/hr rounds a long sweeping curve of radius 250m. The air conditioner is on and the windows are rolled up so that the air within the car moves essentially as a rigid body. A child in the back seat is holding onto the string of a helium-filled balloon. On a straight road the string is vertical, but in the curve its not. Determine the magnitude and direction of the string angle as measured from the vertical.

I have no ideas on how to start, I know i have to use angular velocity/free body digrams, but the thing is, this is the only info that is given, nothing else. Could you please give some hints on how I can start this problem?

This is what I have done so far, although I can't really go ahead because the mass is unknown :(

[PLAIN]http://img806.imageshack.us/img806/8880/photobd.jpg

Thank you!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Physics news on Phys.org
I actually had a similar problem in my first year mechanics course.
I can't recall the intimate details, but you have to figure out the minimum angle that the road has to be banked so that the car can take it at 90 km/h if the road was frictionless.
That will be the angle the balloon will be at if the air in the car is considered a rigid body.
 
Well, let's start with seeing if you have everything you need to solve this. Take the data given and plug it into your formulas you have.

What do you have and what do you think you need?

Edit: Which mass do you think you need?
 
I multiplied the values first without the error limit. Got 19.38. rounded it off to 2 significant figures since the given data has 2 significant figures. So = 19. For error I used the above formula. It comes out about 1.48. Now my question is. Should I write the answer as 19±1.5 (rounding 1.48 to 2 significant figures) OR should I write it as 19±1. So in short, should the error have same number of significant figures as the mean value or should it have the same number of decimal places as...
Thread 'A cylinder connected to a hanging mass'
Let's declare that for the cylinder, mass = M = 10 kg Radius = R = 4 m For the wall and the floor, Friction coeff = ##\mu## = 0.5 For the hanging mass, mass = m = 11 kg First, we divide the force according to their respective plane (x and y thing, correct me if I'm wrong) and according to which, cylinder or the hanging mass, they're working on. Force on the hanging mass $$mg - T = ma$$ Force(Cylinder) on y $$N_f + f_w - Mg = 0$$ Force(Cylinder) on x $$T + f_f - N_w = Ma$$ There's also...
Back
Top