Scribd
Upload
14 views

Circular Motion IGCSE

Uploaded by

bakirovayegana10
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
14 views

Circular Motion IGCSE

Uploaded by

bakirovayegana10
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 8

Circular Motion (CIE IGCSE

Physics)

Circular Motion
EXTENDED

 Velocity is a vector quantity, and the velocity of an object is its speed in a


given direction
 When an object travels along a circular path, its velocity is always changing
o The speed of the object moving in a circle might be constant - that is, it is
travelling the same distance every second
o However, the direction of travel is always changing as the object moves
along the circular path
 This means that an object moving in circular motion travels at a constant
speed but has a changing velocity
 The image below shows an example of a famous object that moves in a circular
path with a constant speed but changing direction:
The International Space Station’s velocity is always changing - it whizzes around
the Earth at a constant speed of about 7660 m/s but is always changing direction

 When a force acts at 90 degrees to an object’s direction of travel, the force will
cause that object to change direction

When the two cars collide, the first car changes its direction in the direction of the force
 If the force continues to act at 90 degrees to the motion, the object will keep
changing its direction (whilst remaining at a constant speed) and travel in a circle
 This is what happens when a planet orbits a star (or satellite orbits a planet)

The Moon is pulled towards the Earth (at 90 degrees to its direction of travel).
This causes it to travel in a circular path

 The force needed to make something follow a circular path depends on a number
of factors:
o The mass of the object

 A greater mass requires a greater force when the speed and radius
are constant
o The speed of the object

 A faster-moving object requires a greater force when the mass and


radius are constant
o The radius of the circle

 A smaller radius requires a greater force to keep the speed and


radius constant
https://igcse.guru/quizzes/circular-motion/

What is circular motion GCSE physics?


When a body moves in a circle, its direction is constantly changing. Since velocity close
velocity. The speed of an object in a particular direction. is a vector quantity, having
both a size and a direction, the velocity of the body must be changing even though its
speed is constant.

Circular Motion & Centripetal Force


From Newton’s first law of motion, it is known that an object will remain
stationary, or keep moving at constant velocity in a straight line unless
acted upon by an unbalanced force. When an object moves in a circular
path its direction is changing all the time therefore according to Newton’s
first law there must be an unbalanced force acting upon it all the time.

When an object moves in a circle although its speed is constant the


direction is continuously changing. Therefore, its velocity is continuously
changing as velocity is speed in a particular direction. The changing
velocity in time means the object is accelerating all the time.

The centripetal force always acts toward the centre of the circle.

The centripetal force is determined from the following equation:


If a ball is tied to the end of a strong string and swung in a circle, the ball
accelerates towards the center of the circle. The centripetal force which
causes the inwards acceleration is from the tension in the string caused
by the person’s hand pulling the string. If the string breaks there is no
longer a resultant force acting on the ball, so it will continue its motion in
a straight line at constant speed.

The centripetal force required to make an object perform circular motion


increases in the following cases:

 If the mass of the object increases.


 If the velocity of the object increases.
 If the radius of the circle decreases.
The above points are evident when considering the equation for
centripetal force.

You might also like