1. Tardigrade
  2. Question
  3. Physics
  4. You may have seen in a circus a motorcyclist driving in vertical loops inside a 'death well' (a hollow spherical chamber with holes, so the spectators can watch from outside). What is the minimum speed required at the uppermost position to perform a vertical loop if the radius of the chamber is 25 m ?

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Q. You may have seen in a circus a motorcyclist driving in vertical loops inside a 'death well' (a hollow spherical chamber with holes, so the spectators can watch from outside). What is the minimum speed required at the uppermost position to perform a vertical loop if the radius of the chamber is $25 \,m$ ?

System of Particles and Rotational Motion

Solution:

At the uppermost point, $N+m g=\frac{m v}{R}$, where $N$ is the normal force (downwards) on the motorcyclist by the ceiling of the chamber. The minimum possible speed at the upper most point corresponds to $N=0$
$\Rightarrow V_{\min }=\sqrt{R g}=\sqrt{25 \times 10} \approx 16\, ms ^{-1}$