How to find the optimal banking speed for a luge track?
JK asked:
This is a physics problem.
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This is a physics problem.
Hello, I am doing this topic for my physics project. The topic is on the luge tracks. In order to find the optimal banking speed, we came up with using the formula:
tan(angle)= v^2/rg
This would require us to know the angle and the radius.
My question is: is this the correct way to find the optimal banking speed? In addition, I am convinced that there is no such thing as “optimal banking speed.”
September 26th, 2009 at 10:15 am
The equation you have is correct for a frictionless surface. I would think that a luge track may be considered very nearly frictionless. The equation you have is derived from considering the normal force as the force causing centripetal acceleration.
Perhaps you should research luge tracks to find various curvature radii and typical speeds for those curvatures, you then could use your equation to calculate the banking angle(s).
Whether or not there is an optimal banking speed, I can’t really say. The equation does show that the closer the banking angle to the vertical, the faster the speed that can be achieved. The equation is obviously limited to angles less than 90 degrees. Algol