- #1
physstudent1
- 270
- 1
Homework Statement
An airplane flies in a loop (a circular path in a vertical plane) of radius 200m. The pilot's head always points toward the center of the loop. The speed of the airplane is not constant; the airplane goes slowest at the top of the loop and fastest at the bottom.
At the bottom of the loop, the speed of the airplane is 270 km/h. What is the apparent weight of the pilot at this point? His true weight is 710 N.
Homework Equations
The Attempt at a Solution
I know the answer is 2750N; and I have figured that you get it from adding the force caused from the centripetal acceleration + the regular weight I just do not understand why. I thought that the force due to centripetal acceleration points inward toward the center of the loop and that the regular weight would point downward I thought due to this you would subtract the two to get the apparent weight why is this not so?