Questions
Berliner Fernsehturm
The restaurant on the third level of the sphere of the Berlin TV tower has a radius of 29 metres. Is made up of a circular floor in the centre and a rotating ring with a width of 4.50 m with the tables for the guests.
Calculate the (linear) speed, a guest sitting 27 m from the axis of rotation, is travelling at if the period of the restaurant is 1 hour? (30 minutes?)
Calculate the centripetal force the guest (with a mass of 90 kg) experiences on the rotating ring (at 27 m).
ISS - the International Space Station in orbit
The international space station orbits the Earth at an altitude of about 400 km. It makes one revolution in about 92 minutes.
a) Using this data, calculate the velocity the ISS is travelling.
b) Calculate the centripetal acceleration.
c) If the mass of the space station is about 450 metric tonnes, calculate the centripetal force.
Speed of a person in Berlin rotating about the Earth’s axis.
Berlin is at N 52.5° Latitude. The Earth’s radius is about 6371 km.
a) Find the angular velocity $\omega$ of the Earth rotating about its axis.
b) Find the angular acceleration.
c) Find the speed a person is travelling in space at the equator and in Berlin.
Hint: You might need cos(52.5°).