Ah, the merry-go-round. One of the most tame, but still fun and romantic, parts of a carnival. The Punahou Carnival is something I look forward to every year, and riding the merry-go-ride is something that is on my list this year. The cool thing now is, I know all the physics of a merry go round! I know that the centripetal force (center searching) is mass multiplied by the velocity squared and then divided by the radius of the ride. I also know that the centripetal force is friction to keep all the little horses moving in a circle and not tangent to the circle. The merry-go-round cannot go too fast, though. Otherwise, the centrifugal force (center fleeing) will be too great and make the person fly tangent to the circle. Thank goodness merry-go-rounds go slowly! There are no seatbelts to keep us strapped in if it were moving too fast!
15 years ago
