Problem 44.

A ferries wheel with radius 20 m which rotates counterclockwise, is just starting up. At a given moment, a passenger on the rim of the wheel and passing through the lowest point of his circular motion is moving at 3.00m/s and in gaining speed at a rate of .

Find the magnitude of the passenger's acceleration at the instant.

Solution:

The acceleration at this point has two components: the tangential acceleration, which is equal to , and centripetal acceleration, which is given by the expression:

These components are orthogonal. Then the net acceleration is