Calculating the Length of a Helicopter Blade

How can we determine the length of a helicopter blade using centripetal acceleration?

Given a centripetal acceleration of 67.37 m/s² and a velocity of 16 m/s at a specific point on the blade, what is the length of the helicopter blade?

Length of a Helicopter Blade Calculation

To calculate the length of a helicopter blade, we can use the formula for centripetal acceleration: a = v²/r. Where a is the centripetal acceleration, v is the velocity of the blade at the point, and r is the radius of the circle equivalent to the length of the helicopter blade.

When the point at the end of a spinning helicopter blade has a centripetal acceleration of 67.37 m/s² and a velocity of 16 m/s, we can use the formula mentioned earlier to find the length of the blade. By rearranging the formula to solve for r, we get r = v²/a.

Plugging in the given values of 16 m/s for velocity and 67.37 m/s² for acceleration, we can calculate the length of the helicopter blade. Substituting these values into the formula gives us:

r = (16 m/s)² / 67.37 m/s²

After performing the calculation, we find that the length of the helicopter blade is approximately 3.79 meters. Therefore, based on the provided data, the length of the helicopter blade can be determined to be around 3.79 meters.