Question on gravitation and rotation of the Earth

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around a physics problem involving gravitation and the effects of rotation on a spring balance reading for a body suspended in a ship sailing along the equator. The problem explores the relationship between the scale reading when the ship is at rest and when it is in motion, considering the angular speed of the Earth and the speed of the ship.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Mathematical reasoning

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the tension in the spring balance under different conditions and attempt to derive the scale reading when the ship is sailing. There are questions about how to express the answer in terms of the initial scale reading and whether certain approximations are valid.

Discussion Status

Some participants have provided guidance on how to approach the problem, suggesting that the answer should be expressed as a multiple of the initial scale reading. There is an ongoing exploration of the assumptions related to the value of g and its relation to the centripetal force due to the Earth's rotation.

Contextual Notes

Participants note difficulties with LaTeX formatting for their workings, which may hinder the clarity of their reasoning. There is also an acknowledgment of the need to discard higher-order terms in the calculations.

AakashPandita
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Homework Statement


A body is suspended on a spring balance in a ship sailing along the equator with a speed ## v' ## . If ## \omega ## is the angular speed of the Earth and ## \omega_0 ## is the scale reading when the ship is at rest , the scale reading when the ship is sailing, will be very close to
(a) ## \omega_0 ##
(b) ## (\omega_0)(1 + \frac { 2 \omega v'}{g}) ##
(c) ## (\omega_0)(1 \mp \frac { 2 \omega v'}{g}) ##
(d)none of these

Homework Equations


Let mass of object be m
Radius of Earth be R.
Tension in spring balance=Reading in spring balance = ## \omega_0 ##
Tension be T when ship not sailing and Tension be T' when ship is sailing

When ship is not sailing
## mg - T = m (\omega)^2 R ##
When ship is sailing
## mg - T' = m (\omega \mp v'/R)^2 R ##
I solved for T' but the answer is not coming.
I could show the working but latex is hard to write.
 
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AakashPandita said:
I could show the working but latex is hard to write.
But if you don't post your working nobody can tell where you are going wrong.
 
IMG_20150501_033610.jpg
 

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That's fine so far, but notice that in the answers everything is expressed as a multiple of ##\omega_0##. Get your answer into that form. (You will probably also need to discard some third order term.)
 
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Wait a minute. Doesn't the value of g that we use account for the centripetal force due to rotation of earth? Is ## g- (\omega)^2 R =g ## using approximation? If yes then how?
 
I got the answer. Thanks a lot.
 

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