Question

A model airplane with mass 0.758 kg is tethered to the ground by a wire so that it flies in a horizontal circle 29.7 m in radius. The airplane engine provides a net thrust of 0.796 N perpendicular to the tethering wire.

(a) Find the magnitude of the torque the net thrust produces about the center of the circle.

(b) Find the magnitude of the angular acceleration of the airplane.

(c) Find the magnitude of the translational acceleration of the airplane tangent to its flight path.

  

Answer 1

a) Torque is perpendicular distance times thrust

b) Moment of inertia about the center of the circle is

The angular acceleration is torque divided by moment of inertia

c) The translational acceleration is thrust divided by mass