An 19.2-cm-long bicycle crank arm, with a pedal at one end is attached to a 21.7-cm-diameter sprocket, the toothed disk around which the chain moves. A cyclist riding this bike increases her pedaling rate from 58 rpm to 87 rpm in 9.4 s. What is the tangential acceleration of the pedal

answer; /// the above statement is (true);

initial speed when it is dropped is 150 ft/s

now at the same moment the acceleration due to gravity is perpendicular to its velocity

so as we know that

now we have centripetal acceleration a = 32 ft/s^2 as its perpendicular to velocity

while tangential acceleration at the same moment will be zero

so

now radius of curvature is given as

so the radius of curvature just after it is dropped is 703.125 ft