PhysicsLAB Practice Problems
Normal Forces Advanced


Directions: On this worksheet you will be asked to calculate the normal force depending on a variety of situations dealing with horizontal circular motion and vertical circular motion.

Question 1  What is the normal force on a 80-kg passenger who is riding in a roller coaster as it passes over the top of a 37-meter radius loop-the-loop while traveling at a speed of 20.0 m/sec?

Question 2  If the roller coaster track instead passed along the inside of the loop-the-loop in Question #1, what normal force would they now feel?
Question 3  A 3.5-kg box is held against the outer wall of a gravitron having a radius of 8 meters as shown in the image below.
How fast must the gravitron be rotating, in revolutions per minute, if the normal force is to equal the box's weight?
Question 4  What is the normal force acting on a 168-kg motorcycle traveling at 30 m/sec through a 37º banked curve of radius 240
Question 5  A parent releases her 24-kg child at an angle of 37º from the vertical. If the swing is 3 meters long, how large is the normal force exerted on the child by the swing's seat as she passes through the lowest point in her ride?

Question 6  


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