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Notes - Topic 12 Motion in A Circle - CAIE Physics A-Level

This document provides an overview of motion in a circle for A-level physics. It defines key terms like angular displacement, angular speed, and centripetal acceleration. Angular displacement is the angle turned through in radians. Angular speed is the angle an object moves through per unit time. Centripetal acceleration causes circular motion and is calculated using the object's linear speed and the radius of its path. Centripetal force is always perpendicular to the motion and acts towards the center; its formula uses mass, linear speed, and radius.

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Shikha Kulkarni
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62 views

Notes - Topic 12 Motion in A Circle - CAIE Physics A-Level

This document provides an overview of motion in a circle for A-level physics. It defines key terms like angular displacement, angular speed, and centripetal acceleration. Angular displacement is the angle turned through in radians. Angular speed is the angle an object moves through per unit time. Centripetal acceleration causes circular motion and is calculated using the object's linear speed and the radius of its path. Centripetal force is always perpendicular to the motion and acts towards the center; its formula uses mass, linear speed, and radius.

Uploaded by

Shikha Kulkarni
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CAIE Physics A-level

Topic 12: Motion in a Circle


Notes

This work by PMT Education is licensed under https://bit.ly/pmt-cc


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12 - Motion in a Circle (A-level only)

12.1 - Kinematics of Uniform Circular Motion


Angles can be measured in units called ​radians​. One radian is defined as the angle in the sector
of a circle when the arc length of that sector is equal to the radius of the circle, as shown in the
diagram below.
Considering a complete circle, its arc length is 2πr , dividing this by r, you get 2π which is the angle
in radians of a full circle. From this you can convert any angle from ​degrees to radians​ by
π
multiplying by 180 , and from ​radians to degrees​ by ​multiplying by 180
π .

Image source: ​User:Stannered. Original image by en:User:Ixphin​, ​CC BY-SA 3.0

Angular displacement (θ)​ is the ​angle turned through​ by an object in any given direction ​in
radians​.

Angular speed (ω)​ is the ​angle an object moves through per unit time​. It can be found by dividing
the object's linear speed (v) by the radius of the circular path it is travelling in (r), or by dividing the
angle in a circle in radians (2π) by the object’s time period (T).
v 2π 1
ω= r = T = 2πf ​as f = T

You can calculate an object’s​ linear speed (v) ​by finding the ​product of its angular speed (ω) and
the radius of its path (r)​ as shown below:
v = rω

12.2 - Centripetal Acceleration and Centripetal Force


An object moving in a circular path at constant speed has a ​constantly
changing velocity​ as velocity has both magnitude and direction,
therefore the object must be ​accelerating ​(this is known as centripetal
acceleration). We know from ​Newton’s first law​ that to accelerate, an
object must experience a resultant force, therefore an object moving in
a circle must experience a force. This is known as the ​centripetal
force​, and it ​always acts ​perpendicular ​to the motion of the object
(towards the centre of the circle)​.

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Centripetal acceleration (a)​ can be found using the formula below:
v2
a= r = ω2 r
Where v is linear speed, r is the radius of the path and ω is the angular speed.
Centripetal acceleration causes circular motion with a constant angular speed.
Using ​Newton’s second law​, F = ma , we can derive the formula for ​centripetal force (F)​ from the
formula above.
mv 2
F = r = mω 2 r
Where m is the mass of the object, v is linear speed, r is the radius of the path and ω is the angular speed.

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