Riding round and round

A motorbike starts from rest at time t = 0 t=0 and begins to accelerate around a circular track as shown in the figure below. Eventually, at time t = t 1 t=t_1 the motorbike reaches the maximum velocity possible without slipping off the track. What's the minimum length in meters the motorbike must travel between t = 0 t=0 and t = t 1 t=t_1 ?

Details and assumptions

  • Assume that the friction coefficient everywhere on the race track is the same.
  • The motorbike wheels never slip on the track as it accelerates.


The answer is 7.85.

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2 solutions

David Mattingly Staff
May 13, 2014

The maximum friction force is F o F_o . The angle between the friction force and the velocity of the motorbike is α \alpha . The angle of the arc the motorbike has traveled on the track is θ \theta .

In the tangent direction:

m d v d t = F o cos α m \frac{dv}{dt} = F_o \cos{\alpha}

In the radial direction:

m v 2 R = F o sin α 2 m v R d v d t = F o cos α d α d t m \frac{v^2}{R} = F_o \sin{\alpha} \quad \Rightarrow \quad \frac{2mv}{R}\frac{dv}{dt} = F_o \cos{\alpha} \frac{d\alpha}{dt}

Divide the second equation by the first equation and we get:

2 v R = d α d t \frac{2v}{R} = \frac{d\alpha}{dt}

We can now substitute v / R = d θ / d t v/R=d\theta/dt to get d θ = d α / 2 d\theta=d\alpha/2 .

As the angle α \alpha changes from 0 0 to π / 2 \pi/2 , the arc the motorbike will travel is s = θ R = π R / 4 = 7.85 m s=\theta R = \pi R/4 = 7.85~\mbox{m} .

Beakal Tiliksew
May 20, 2014

v~k, v=k s/r,where s is a constant equal to 2 pi*r,

minimizing the value and taking the definite integral we get k=(1/8), since distance traveled is equal to k s,we get (1/8) 62.8=7.85

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