A fly is standing on the outside of the cental axis of a ferris wheel. When one of the spokes of the ferris wheel is pointing straight up, the fly starts crawling along the spoke straight toward the outer rim of the ferris wheel. When the spoke is pointing straight down, the fly flies off the wheel. Suppose the ferris wheel is turning at a rate of 3 revolutions per minute, the length of the spoke is 50 feet, the fly crawls at a rate of F feet per minute, and the central axis of the ferris wheel is 60 feet off the ground. How high above the ground does the fly get during its ride on the ferris wheel?

If you'd like to make it more challenging, let R be the number of revolutions per minute, L the length of the spoke, and L+10 the height of the axis above the ground!

Go to the Bradley University Home Page

You are visitor number 4941 to this page. Page last updated 2 March 1997.