A stone of mass m sits at the bottom of a bucket. A tring is attached to the bucket and the bucket is made to move in circles. What is the minimum speed that the bucket needs to have at the highest point of the trajectory in order to keep the stone inside the bucket?
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The Deep Dive
To keep the stone from falling out of the bucket at the highest point, the centripetal force must be sufficient to counteract the gravitational force acting on the stone. At the highest point, the gravitational force (mg) provides part of the centripetal force needed to keep the stone moving in a circular path. Thus, the minimum condition we can set is: the centripetal force required (mv²/r) must be equal to or greater than the gravitational force mg. Rearranging gives us the equation v² = rg, where v is the speed of the bucket, r is the radius of the circular path, and g is the acceleration due to gravity. The minimum speed at the highest point is then given by: v = √(rg). This is the safety net that prevents that pesky stone from making an escape!