A motorbike starts from rest at time and begins to accelerate around a circular track as shown in the figure below. Eventually, at time the motorbike reaches the maximum velocity possible without slipping off the track. What's the minimum length in meters the motorbike must travel between and ?
Details and assumptions
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The maximum friction force is F o . The angle between the friction force and the velocity of the motorbike is α . The angle of the arc the motorbike has traveled on the track is θ .
In the tangent direction:
m d t d v = F o cos α
In the radial direction:
m R v 2 = F o sin α ⇒ R 2 m v d t d v = F o cos α d t d α
Divide the second equation by the first equation and we get:
R 2 v = d t d α
We can now substitute v / R = d θ / d t to get d θ = d α / 2 .
As the angle α changes from 0 to π / 2 , the arc the motorbike will travel is s = θ R = π R / 4 = 7 . 8 5 m .