«
»

in order to simulate weightlessness for astronauts in training, they are flown in a vertical circle.?

Add 10

If the passengers are to experience weightlessness, how fast should an airplane be moving at the top of a vertical circle with a radiusof 2.50 km?

To experience "weightlessness" the plane is flown over the top of the loop. For our purposes and simplicity here we will assume it is a circular loop

Now draw a freebody diagram about a passenger at the top of the loop (Plane is right side up)

Taking down as + we get -N + m*g = m*a = m*v^2/r For "weightlessness" N = 0 = m*g – m*v^2/r

So g – v^2/r = 0 or v =sqrt( g*r) = sqrt(9.8*2500) = 157 m/s

This entry was posted on Friday, February 26th, 2010 at 6:19 pm and is filed under vertical training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Add 10

2 Responses to “in order to simulate weightlessness for astronauts in training, they are flown in a vertical circle.?”

  1. No they aren’t. A vertical circle would not result in weightlessness at all, except perhaps for one brief moment. Astronauts on the Vomit Comet are flown in *parabolas*, not circles.
    References :

  2. To experience "weightlessness" the plane is flown over the top of the loop. For our purposes and simplicity here we will assume it is a circular loop

    Now draw a freebody diagram about a passenger at the top of the loop (Plane is right side up)

    Taking down as + we get -N + m*g = m*a = m*v^2/r For "weightlessness" N = 0 = m*g – m*v^2/r

    So g – v^2/r = 0 or v =sqrt( g*r) = sqrt(9.8*2500) = 157 m/s
    References :

Leave a Reply