 High performance aircraft pilots and astronauts
experience "g" or gravity force when they perform or are involved
in some maneuvers. Under certain conditions like a tight turn, a
pull up, or when experiencing a space shuttle take-off, the pilot
or astronauts will feel multiple "g" forces. In effect, a 180-pound
pilot or astronaut experiencing 3 g's will weigh 540 pounds. High
"g" loads upon the human body can cause disorientation, blackout
and could have a fatal result. To train as a high performance pilot
or astronaut, a device called a centrifuge has been developed to
simulate "g" loads on a human. A centrifuge travels an object in a
circular path. It operates similar to a merry-go-round at an
amusement park except it can be programmed to go around much
faster. There is a formula that can be used to calculate the g's a
person feels when training on a centrifuge.
g's = 4 ´ p 2 ´ DT
/ 32 ´
TP2
DT = Distance from the Turning Point
TP = Turning Period
The turning period is the time it will take a rider to make one
complete turn.
A pilot/astronaut-training centrifuge has a diameter of 30
feet. It will spin the person 15 feet from the centrifuge's
center point. It will take the astronaut 4 seconds to make one
complete turn. The circumference or distance around is 30
p or approximately 94 feet. How many
"g's", will the astronaut feel? What will be the astronaut's
approximate comparable speed in miles per hour?
Given: p = 3.14
g = 4 ´ 3.142
´ (15 feet) / 32 ´ 42
g = 592 / 512 = 1.16
So the astronaut will feel 1.2 g's
And the astronaut's speed will be:
Speed in miles per hour = (94 ft / 4 sec) ´ (1 mile / 5,280 ft)
´ (3,600 sec /1 hour)
Speed = 338,400 mile / 21,120 hours
or 16 miles per hour
Using the same centrifuge information from the above example (30
feet diameter), how long a turning period - in seconds - will the
centrifuge take so the pilot/astronaut feels 4 g's, and how fast
will that be in miles per hour?
Estimate the answer:
 1.8
seconds and 35.6 miles per hour
 3.4
seconds and 18.9 miles per hour
 2.1
seconds and 30.5 miles per hour
 
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