# Ferris Wheel Problem

• December 10th 2012, 02:57 PM
nyago
Ferris Wheel Problem
Could someone show me the steps for solving this problem? We went over this in class a few weeks ago but I'm a bit confused about how to figure out the second part of the question, mainly. I'm supposed to have a similar problem on my final tomorrow....

The rim of the London Eye (a 135m diameter ferris wheel) moves 26 cm/sec, slow enough for passengers to safely get on the wheel from the platform (2 meters above ground level) without stopping the wheel at the bottom of its rotation.

1. What's the height at the bottom of the wheel? The top? How high above the ground is the center of the wheel?

2. How far does a passenger travel as the wheel makes one complete revolution? How much time does that take?
• December 10th 2012, 03:07 PM
sakonpure6
Re: Ferris Wheel Problem
For part 2 you can find the circumference of the circle to find out how far a passenger travels and then divide your answer by 26cm/sec to find the time it takes to make that revolution in seconds.
• December 10th 2012, 03:08 PM
skeeter
Re: Ferris Wheel Problem
Quote:

Originally Posted by nyago
Could someone show me the steps for solving this problem? We went over this in class a few weeks ago but I'm a bit confused about how to figure out the second part of the question, mainly. I'm supposed to have a similar problem on my final tomorrow....

The rim of the London Eye (a 135m diameter ferris wheel) moves 26 cm/sec, slow enough for passengers to safely get on the wheel from the platform (2 meters above ground level) without stopping the wheel at the bottom of its rotation.

1. What's the height at the bottom of the wheel? The top? How high above the ground is the center of the wheel?

2. How far does a passenger travel as the wheel makes one complete revolution? $\color{red}2 \pi r$

How much time does that take? $\color{red}T = \frac{2\pi r}{v}$

... don't forget to match up your units in calculating the period, $T$
• December 10th 2012, 03:22 PM
nyago
Re: Ferris Wheel Problem
thanks!!