Part C: Rounding Curves


Things to Notice:

 

12. If your eyes are closed, how can you tell when the bus is going around a curve? Try it and report what you notice.

 

13. As the bus rounds a curve, concentrate on a tree or a building that would have been straight ahead. See if you can sense that you are trying to go straight but are being pulled into the curve by a centripetal force.

 

14. What is supplying the centripetal force that is helping you round the curve?

 

15. How does this change when the curve is tighter or it the bus is going faster?

 

16. Write a few sentences relating your answers to the previous questions and the speeds of roller coasters and the tightness of roller coaster turns.

 

17. Bonus: Devise a method for estimating the centripetal force on you as you round a curve. (One possibility is to use keys on a string and ...)

 


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