Question

A stunt plane is in a movie and needs to do a loop-the-loop in air. If the radius of the loop is 10 m what is the minimum speed a pilot needs to take so that they don’t fall out of the plane?

Answer 1

Gravitational acceleration = g = 9.81 m/s2

Mass of the pilot = m

Weight of the pilot = W

Radius of the loop = R = 10 m

Minimum speed of the pilot = V

For minimum speed at the top of the loop the normal force on the pilot from the seat is zero, which means the required centripetal force for the circular motion of the pilot is provided by the pilot's weight.

Centripetal force required = F

V = 9.9 m/s

Minimum speed a pilot needs so that they don't fall out of the plane = 9.9 m/s