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Circular Motion Powerpoint

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15 views11 pages

Circular Motion Powerpoint

Uploaded by

zachsherman44
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Circular Motion

Advanced Mechanics Focus 2


Moving in a Circle
If something is moving in a circle, it is being acted on by a
centripetal force.
Centripetal forces:
• Always act towards the centre of the circle
• Cause centripetal acceleration, which is also always directed
to the centre of the circle

The object goes in a circle, rather than getting pulled into the
middle, because it already has a velocity perpendicular to the
force. Thus, the object is moving in one direction but
accelerating in a different direction, causing the circular motion.

If the centripetal force stops (eg a string is cut) the object will
continue moving in a straight line at a tangent to the circle.
An
Example
• The Earth moves around the Sun in an approximately circular orbit.

• The Earth is accelerating since there is an unbalanced force – gravity –


acting on the Earth. By Newton’s 1st Law, an unbalanced force causes an
acceleration.

• The speed of the Earth is almost constant, however.

• So if the speed of the Earth is not changing, how can it be accelerating?


Speed of the Object
There are two ways to think about the
speed of the object.
1. How fast the object moving is moving in
a straight line – the linear velocity, v
2. How fast the object is rotating – the
angular or rotational velocity, v

(v is the lower-case Greek letter omega)


Linear Velocity
radius
At any moment, the linear velocity of an object
moving in a circle is perpendicular to the radius, ie at
a tangent to the circle.

The linear velocity of the object is measured in m/s


and found using
speed = distance/time
• The distance is the
• The time is for one rotation and called the period
(T) so
A Quick Aside - Radians
• When we are talking about circular
motion, we use radians rather than
degrees.
• One radian is defined as the angle
needed to move through an arc that is
the same length as the radius of the
circle.
• There are 2p radians in a whole circle
• To convert between radians and degrees,
use the formula
1 degree = 180/p radians
Angular Velocity
• Consider an object moving from P to Q through
an angle q as shown in the diagram w
• The angular velocity is given by

• w is the angular velocity in radians/second


• q is the angle in radians
• t is the time in seconds
w
Two More Formulae
• Since one complete turn is 2p radians, the
angular velocity can be written as

• Angular velocity and linear velocity are


related by
v = rw
Centripetal Acceleration

• Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity.

• Centripetal acceleration is given by two


equations:
and r

• The direction of the acceleration is ALWAYS


towards the centre of the circle.
Centripetal force
• Force is given by Newton’s 2nd Law:

• We have already noted that the centripetal acceleration is given


by

• It follows, therefore, that the centripetal force is given by

• Like the acceleration, centripetal force is ALWAYS directed


towards the centre of the circle.
Examples of Centripetal Motion

Type of Motion Centripetal Force

Object whirling horizontally on a string Tension in the string

Object whirling vertically on a string (not uniform) Sum of tension and weight force

Charged particle entering a magnetic field Magnetic force

Vehicle turning a corner Friction between the road and the tires

Vehicle on a banked road Component of gravity (and some friction, usually


negligible)

Satellite or planet Gravity

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