2022-24 syllabus By: Sultan ALShehri

Motion in a circle
 Kinematics of uniform circular motion
 The radian and the angular displacement
 When dealing with circles and circular motion, it is more convenient to
measure angles and angular displacements in units called radians rather
than in degrees.
 One radian is the angle subtended at the centre of a circle by an arc of
length equal to the radius of the circle.

Subtended means faced, so the angle is faced by the arc !

 Radians are commonly written in terms of π

 The angle in radians for a complete circle (360o) is equal to:

 If an angle of 360o = 2π radians, then 1 radian in degrees is equal to:

 Table of common degrees to radians conversions

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 Circular motion is the motion of an object along a path that is part of, or
the whole of, a circle. The angle through which an object moves during
circular motion is its angular displacement. In other words, angular
displacement(θ) is the angle swept out by the radius joining the object
to the centre of the circle.

 It is more convenient to measure angular displacement in units

of radians rather than units of degrees.
 The angular displacement is the ratio of:

o Δθ = angular displacement, or angle of rotation (radians)

o s = length of the arc, or the distance travelled around the circle (m)
o r = radius of the circle (m)
 Note: both distances must be measured in the same units e.g. metres

 Angular speed
 In Figure, point A on a wheel. The
centre of the wheel is at O. The
rotation of the wheel around O is
uniform, which means that its
speed of rotation does not change.
The distance OA is r.

 In one complete rotation or

revolution of the wheel, point A
travels a distance of 2πr. The time
taken for the wheel to rotate once,
its orbital period or simply period, is T. The speed at which A travels is
therefore 2πr/T. We call this the linear speed or orbital speed of a
point, or an object, in circular motion. As it is given by distance travelled
per unit time, its units are ms-1 and its symbol is v. Hence, the linear
speed of an object moving uniformly in a circular path with radius r is:
(1)

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 Point A is moving in a circular path about O, so we can also refer to the

angular speed of A about O. Angular speed is defined as the change in
angular displacement per unit time, or the angle swept out per unit
time and is given the symbol ω (Greek lower case omega). It has units
rad s-1.
Angular speed (rad s-1) = change in angular displacement (rad) ÷ time
taken (s)

 Point A travels through 2π rad in time T, so its angular speed is 2π/T.

Hence, the angular speed, ω of an object moving uniformly in a circular
path is:
(2)

 Now consider point B in figure. Point B is on the same wheel as A, but at

a distance 2r from the centre. The linear, or orbital, speed of B is
. Point B will perform one complete rotation about O in time
T, just as point A. The angular speed of point B is therefore also .
Equation (2) shows that , so we can substitute into equation
(1), giving: v = rω

 Centripetal acceleration
 What Causes Centripetal Acceleration?
 Velocity and acceleration are both vector quantities
 An object in uniform circular motion is continuously changing
direction, and therefore is constantly changing velocity
o The object must therefore be accelerating
 This is called the centripetal acceleration and is perpendicular to the
direction of the linear speed
o Centripetal means it acts towards the centre of the circular path

Centripetal force and acceleration are always directed towards the centre of the circle
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 The centripetal acceleration is caused by a centripetal force of constant

magnitude that also acts perpendicular to the direction of motion
(towards the centre)
 Therefore, the centripetal acceleration and force act in the same
direction
 Note
o The linear speed is sometimes referred to as the ‘tangential’ speed
o A tangent is a straight line which touches a circle or curve at exactly one point
o The key feature of a tangent of a circle is that it always acts perpendicular to its radius

 Changing velocity means that acceleration is occurring. Newton's second

law of motion states that for acceleration to occur, there must be a
resultant force.
 What is this resultant force, and where does it come from? Think of a
disc sliding on a frictionless surface, such as ice. The disc will travel in a
straight line at a constant speed;
that is, it has constant velocity.
The disc can be made to change
direction by pushing it as shown in
Figure. If the force used to push
the disc in Figure is perpendicular
to the velocity of the disc, then the
force will change the direction of
the velocity, but not its
magnitude. The change in velocity of the disc means that it has
accelerated, but its speed has not increased. If the disc is then pushed
again, perpendicular to its motion, it will change direction again.

 A series of push forces of equal magnitude, each one perpendicular to

the motion of the disc, acting at equal time intervals, will cause the disc
to move along tangents to a curved
path of constant radius as shown in
Figure. If the disc is not pushed, it will
continue to move in a straight line. The
straight line will be a tangent to the
circle, or arc, that the object was
following. To keep the disc moving in a
curved path, the force needs to
continue acting. For any object to
move in a circular path, a resultant
force is needed to act towards the centre of the circle and this resultant
force needs to be maintained. This force, which causes the change in
velocity and hence the circular motion, is called the centripetal force.

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 A resultant force acting towards the centre of the circle is needed for
circular motion, but where does this force come from? The nature of this
centripetal force depends on the physical situation. Think of a satellite
travelling in a circular path in orbit around the Earth. The resultant force
acting on the satellite is the
gravitational pull from the Earth.
The force acts on the satellite
towards the centre of the Earth,
which is also the centre of the
circular orbit of the satellite. The
velocity of the satellite at any
instant is along a tangent to the
circle. This is the path that the
satellite would take if the
centripetal force was suddenly
removed. The resultant force and
the linear velocity of the satellite
are shown in Figure.

 Relating centripetal acceleration and angular Speed

 An object travelling in uniform circular motion has centripetal
acceleration, yet its angular speed (⍵) is constant
o This is because speed is a scalar quantity, whilst velocity is a vector quantity
o Therefore, angular speed is the magnitude (size) component of angular velocity

 Key ideas to remember:

o Angular speed (magnitude) stays constant, angular velocity (direction) is constantly
changing
o Angular speed does not change with radius, but linear speed does
o The object’s centripetal acceleration is always directed toward the centre of the
circle, and is perpendicular to the object’s velocity at any one time
o Velocity and acceleration are both defined by a change in direction, not just a change
in the magnitude
 We are used to the idea of acceleration meaning something is speeding
up. So, it might sound counterintuitive to say an object travelling in a
circle is accelerating, yet it also has constant speed. This is where the
idea of scalars and vectors would be useful to revisit if you are not
confident with this concept.

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 Centripetal acceleration
 Centripetal acceleration is defined as:
The acceleration of an object towards the centre of a circle when an object
is in motion (rotating) around a circle at a constant speed
 It can be defined using the radius r and linear speed v:

 Using the equation relating angular speed ω and linear speed v:

v = r⍵
 These equations can be combined to give another form of the
centripetal acceleration equation:

 This equation shows that centripetal acceleration is equal to the radius

times the square of the angular speed
 Alternatively, rearrange for r:

 This equation can be combined with the first one to give us another form
of the centripetal acceleration equation:

 This equation shows how the centripetal acceleration relates to the

linear speed and the angular speed

Centripetal acceleration is always directed toward the centre of the circle, and is perpendicular
to the object’s velocity

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 Where:
o a = centripetal acceleration (m s−2)
o v = linear speed (m s−1)
o ⍵ = angular speed (rad s−1)
o r = radius of the orbit (m)

 Worked Example
A ball tied to a string is rotating in a horizontal circle with a radius of 1.5 m and
an angular speed of 3.5 rad s−1.Calculate its centripetal acceleration if the radius
was twice as large and angular speed was twice as fast.

 Centripetal force
 An object moving in a circle is not in equilibrium, it has a resultant force
acting upon it
o This is known as the centripetal force and is what keeps the object moving in a circle
 The centripetal force (F) is defined as:
The resultant force towards the centre of the circle required to keep a body
in uniform circular motion. It is always directed towards the centre of the
body's rotation.
 Centripetal force can be calculated using:

Centripetal force is always perpendicular to the direction of travel

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 Where:
o
F = centripetal force (N)
o
v = linear velocity (m s-1)
⍵ = angular speed (rad s-1)
o
o
r = radius of the orbit (m)
 Note: centripetal force and centripetal acceleration act in the same
direction
o This is due to Newton’s Second Law
 The centripetal force is not a separate force of its own
o It can be any type of force, depending on the situation, which keeps an object moving
in a circular path
Examples of centripetal force

 Worked Example
A bucket of mass 8.0 kg is filled with water is attached to a string of length 0.5
m. What is the minimum speed the bucket must have at the top of the circle so
no water spills out?

 Step 1: Draw the forces on the bucket at the top

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 Step 2: Calculate the centripetal force

o The weight of the bucket = mg
o This is equal to the centripetal force since it is directed towards the centre of the circle

 Step 3: Rearrange for velocity

o m cancels from both sides

 Step 4: Substitute in values

 The conical pendulum

 Some rotating children's toys and fairground
rides are based on the principle of the conical
pendulum. A simple conical pendulum
consists of a mass, called a bob, hanging a on
a string. The bob is set in motion So that it
moves around in a horizontal circle. This is
shown in Figure. The resultant force on the
bob acts towards the centre of the circle. This
force is provided by the horizontal component
of the tension, T, in the string. Therefore
(a)

 As the string is also supporting the weight of the bob, the vertical
component of T is equal to the weight of the bob. So
T cosθ = mg (b)

 We can divide equation (a) by equation (b).

 Simplify

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 Circular motion in a vertical plane

 Think about whirling a ball on a string around in a vertical circle so that
the speed of the ball remains constant throughout the circular motion.
The principles that apply to the motion are the same as for a ball being
whirled in a horizontal circle. The difference is that the weight of the
ball, as well as the tension in the string, affects the resultant force acting
towards the centre of the circle.
 Figure shows the ball moving in vertical circle of radius r. Two forces
contribute to the resultant
force acting towards the centre
of the circle: the weight of the
ball W (always downwards)
and the tension in the string T
(always inwards). The
magnitude of T will vary
around the circle depending on
the direction of the required
resultant force relative to the
weight.

 As the ball is in uniform circular motion, the resultant force F producing

the centripetal acceleration acting on the ball must be of constant
magnitude.
Fc = mrω = mv2/r

 At positions 2 and 4 in Figure, the force due to the weight, W, of the

mass has no effect on the resultant force, Fc. This is because W acts
perpendicular to Fc and so has no component in the direction of Fc
T2 = T4 = Fc

 At position 1, the top of the circle, W acts in the same direction as Fc.
T1 + W = Fc
The tension is smallest at this point. If W is greater than the required
resultant force Fc then the ball will fall out of circular motion at position
1. If W is equal to Fc at position 1, then T1, will be zero, but the ball will
continue in circular motion. At position 3, the tension in the string will be
greatest. Here, the tension is acting to support all of W and also provide
F c.
T3 - W= Fc

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 Consider how this applies to passengers in a roller-coaster ride with a

vertical loop. In this case instead of tension in a string, T, there is the
normal contact force, N, on a passenger from the seat beneath them.
At the lowest point in the circle, position 3 in Figure, the normal contact
force N from the seat provides the resultant force to keep the passenger
in circular motion and also needs to balance their weight. Hence, the
force from the seat on the passenger is greatest at the lowest point of
the circle. As we perceive our apparent weight from contact forces, the
passengers will feel heavier at this point in the circle.
N3 - W = Fc So N3 = Fc + W

 At the highest point in the circle, position 1 in Figure, the weight of the
passenger contributes to the resultant force. The contact force from the
seat at this position is lowest, so the passenger will feel lightest at the
highest point in the circle.
N1 + W = Fc SO N1 = Fc - W

 If the weight is equal to the required resultant force a at a certain speed,

then the passenger will have the feeling of being weightless.
At positions analogous to 2 and 4 in Figure, the weight of the passenger
acts perpendicular to the direction of travel, so the contact force from
the seat provides all of the resultant force.
N2 = N 4 = F c

 Humps in roads
 The rally car in Figure is travelling over a curved hill on a road. In order
for the car to stay on the road, the weight of the car needs to provide
the resultant force to cause centripetal acceleration. If the speed of the
car is too great, then the resultant force required to keep the car in
contact with the curved path of the road will become greater than the
weight. At this point, the car will leave the road.

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