Physics Behind the Gravitron

The Gravitron: The Early Lesson in Centripetal Force

Everyone has seen some form of the carnival ride pictured above, whether it be the state of the art indoor attraction that blew kids minds back in the 1980s, or the more ancient counterpart the Roundup. The poor man's Gravitron that does keep you stationary in a standing position without flying out, but also succeeds in making you sick because you see the world spinning around you at 100 million miles a minute, but I digress. The Gravitron is a ride that was invented in the early 1980s in which the rider goes inside a saucer-shaped capsule and stands with their backs to the wall. The ride begins to spin and due to the concept of centripetal force, the rider is pushed against the wall and is stuck there without the aid of a harness or seat belt.

So why do people feel weightless while riding the Gravitron? Well, we know that zero gravity on Earth is impossible, but we can almost mimic zero gravity via apparent weight (m(a+g)). When the Gravitron is spinning its fastest all of the acceleration is pointing towards the center, resulting in deceleration which makes the body's weight seem lighter.

So how do people stay stuck to the wall of the Gravitron? Well to put it briefly, the force that is caused by the centripetal acceleration due to the constant movement of the ride pushes the rider back against the wall like so:

Also a static force of friction is created which points upwards to counteract the force of the Gravitron which is pointing downwards. This keeps one from sliding down the wall.

So due to centripetal force, the Gravitron is a great ride for all ages, and it doesn't result in death as it would if centripetal force was non-existent.

Works Cited:

https://prezi.com/ilxy3ldzpzru/physics-of-a-gravitron/

https://www.real-world-physics-problems.com/amusement-park-physics.html

http://physics.bu.edu/~duffy/semester1/c7_rotor.html

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