There is a Ferris wheel where the passengers are placed 10m away from the centre. At what speed must they be moving in order for them to feel completely weightless at the top of the wheel.
In order for the passenger to feel weightless, they must have a vertical acceleration equal to the acceleration due to gravity, i.e. they must be accelerating downward at a rate of 9.81m/s2. acceleration =velocity2/radius. Rearranging this equation gives a velocity of 9.9m/s.
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