8. Centripetal Forces & Gravitation

At its Ames Research Center, NASA uses its large '20-G' centrifuge to test the effects of very large accelerations ('hypergravity') on test pilots and astronauts. In this device, an arm 8.84 m long rotates about one end in a horizontal plane, and an astronaut is strapped in at the other end. Suppose that he is aligned along the centrifuge's arm with his head at the outermost end. The maximum sustained acceleration to which humans are subjected in this device is typically 12.5g. (c) How fast in rpm (rev/min) is the arm turning to produce the maximum sustained acceleration?

One problem for humans living in outer space is that they are apparently weightless. One way around this problem is to design a space station that spins about its center at a constant rate. This creates 'artificial gravity' at the outside rim of the station. (a) If the diameter of the space station is 800 m, how many revolutions per minute are needed for the 'artificial gravity' acceleration to be 9.80 m/s2?

It is proposed that future space stations create an artificial gravity by rotating. Suppose a space station is constructed as a 1000-m-diameter cylinder that rotates about its axis. The inside surface is the deck of the space station. What rotation period will provide 'normal' gravity?

In the Bohr model of the hydrogen atom, an electron (mass m = 9.1 x 10^-31 kg) orbits a proton at a distance of 5.3 x 10^-11 m. The proton pulls on the electron with an electric force of 8.2 x 10^-8 N. How many revolutions per second does the electron make?