In a well known stunt from circuses and carnivals, a motorcyclist rides around
inside a big bowl, gradually speeding up and rising higher. Eventually the
cyclist can get up to where the walls of the bowl are vertical. Let's estimate
the conditions under which a running human could do the same thing.
(a) If the runner can run at speed \(v\), and her shoes have a coefficient of
static friction \(\mu_{s}\), what is the maximum radius of the circle?(answer
check available at lightandmatter.com)
(b) Show that the units of your answer make sense.
(c) Check that its dependence on the variables makes sense.
(d) Evaluate your result numerically for \(v=10 \mathrm{~m} / \mathrm{s}\) (the
speed of an olympic sprinter) and \(\mu_{s}=5\). (This is roughly the highest
coefficient of static friction ever achieved for surfaces that are not sticky.
The surface has an array of microscopic fibers like a hair brush, and is
inspired by the hairs on the feet of a gecko. These assumptions are not
necessarily realistic, since the person would have to run at an angle, which
would be physically awkward.)(answer check available at lightandmatter.com)