Question

A cyclist is undertaking horizontal circles inside a cylindrical well of radius 5 m. If the friction coefficient is 0.5, what should be the minimum speed of the cyclist?

Answer 1

Data: r = 5 m, μ_s = 0.5, g = 9.8 m/s²

${\displaystyle v_{min}=\sqrt{\frac{rg}{{\mu }_s}}}$

= ${\displaystyle \sqrt{\frac{5\times 9.8}{0.5}}}$

= ${\displaystyle \sqrt{2\times 49}}$

= ${\displaystyle 7\sqrt{2}}$ m/s

This is the minimum speed of the cyclist.