Jogging on a Carousel

To jog around the periphery of a carousel at rest requires that the jogger experience a constant state of acceleration perpendicular to the direction of motion and directed toward the axis of rotation (centripetal). The jogger could achieve this centripetal acceleration by leaning inward, thereby using a horizontal weight component to provide the necessary centripetal force. There are two ordinary cases of circular motion involving the carousel that can be handled by the simple centripetal acceleration formula, where the joggers speed v is squared and then divided by the radius r of the path being followed (a = v2/r). One case would be as above, with the carousel at rest and the jogger moving on a circular path around it. The other case would be the jogger at rest on the carousel at a radial point r while it is moving with linear speed v. The situation can be made significantly more interesting and informative by letting the jogger be in motion while the carousel is in motion.