Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Preview

Section 1 Circular Motion

Section 2 Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation

Section 3 Motion in Space

Section 4 Torque and Simple Machines

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

What do you think?

• Consider the following objects moving in circles:
• A car traveling around a circular ramp on the highway
• A ball tied to a string being swung in a circle
• The moon as it travels around Earth
• A child riding rapidly on a playground merry-go-round

• For each example above, answer the following:

• Is the circular motion caused by a force?
• If so, in what direction is that force acting?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Tangential Speed (vt)

• Speed in a direction
tangent to the circle
• Uniform circular motion: vt
has a constant value
– Only the direction changes
– Example shown to the right

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Centripetal Acceleration (ac)

• Acceleration is a change in
velocity (size or direction).
• Direction of velocity changes
continuously for uniform circular
motion.
• What direction is the acceleration?
– the same direction as v
– toward the center of the circle
• Centripetal means “center
seeking”

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Centripetal force AND Centrifugal force

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Motion of an object travelling at a constant

uniform speed along a circular path

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Centripetal Acceleration (magnitude)

• How do you think the magnitude of the acceleration
depends on the speed?
• How do you think the magnitude of the acceleration
depends on the radius of the circle?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Tangential Acceleration
• Occurs if the speed increases
• Directed tangent to the circle
• Example: a car traveling in a circle
– Centripetal acceleration maintains the circular motion.
• directed toward center of circle
– Tangential acceleration produces an increase or
decrease in the speed of the car.
• directed tangent to the circle

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Centripetal Force (Fc)

Fc mac
vt 2
and ac 
r
mvt 2
so Fc 
r

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Centripetal Force
• Maintains motion in a circle
• Can be produced in different
ways, such as
– Gravity
– A string
– Friction
• Which way will an object
move if the centripetal force
is removed?
– In a straight line, as shown on
the right

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Describing a Rotating System

• Imagine yourself as a passenger in a car turning quickly
to the left, and assume you are free to move without the
constraint of a seat belt.
– How does it “feel” to you during the turn?
– How would you describe the forces acting on you during this
turn?
• There is not a force “away from the center” or “throwing
you toward the door.”
– Sometimes called “centrifugal force”
• Instead, your inertia causes you to continue in a straight
line until the door, which is turning left, hits you.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

If a car in motion continue to be in

motion

If the car were to abruptly stop and the

seat belts were not being worn, then

the passengers in motion would

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

• Centripetal acceleration – acceleration directed

toward the center of a circular path

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Classroom Practice Problems

• A 35.0 kg child travels in a circular path with a
radius of 2.50 m as she spins around on a
playground merry-go-round. She makes one
complete revolution every 2.25 s.
– What is her speed or tangential velocity? (Hint: Find
the circumference to get the distance traveled.)
– What is her centripetal acceleration?
– What centripetal force is required?
• Answers: 6.98 m/s, 19.5 m/s2, 682 N

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Now what do you think?

• Consider the following objects moving in circles:
• A car traveling around a circular ramp on the highway
• A ball tied to a string being swung in a circle
• The moon as it travels around Earth
• A child riding rapidly on a playground merry-go-round

• For each example above, answer the following:

• Is the circular motion caused by a force?
• If so, in what direction is that force acting?
• What is the source of the force acting on each object?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

What do you think?

Imagine an object hanging from a spring scale.

The scale measures the force acting on the
object.
• What is the source of this force? What is pulling or
pushing the object downward?
• Could this force be diminished? If so, how?
• Would the force change in any way if the object was
placed in a vacuum?
• Would the force change in any way if Earth stopped
rotating?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Newton’s Thought Experiment

• What happens if you fire a
cannonball horizontally at
greater and greater speeds?
• Conclusion: If the speed is just
right, the cannonball will go into
orbit like the moon, because it
falls at the same rate as Earth’s
surface curves.
• Therefore, Earth’s gravitational
pull extends to the moon.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Mass and weight

– The weight of an object (on the earth) is the
gravitational force that the earth exerts on it.
– The weight W of an object of mass m is
W = mg
– The value of g depends on altitude.
– On other planets, g will have an entirely
different value than on the earth.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

A euro in free

fall

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Law of Universal Gravitation

• Fg is proportional to the product of the masses (m1m2).

• Fg is inversely proportional to the distance squared (r2).
– Distance is measured center to center.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Law of Universal Gravitation

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Gravitational Force
• If gravity is universal and exists between all
masses, why isn’t this force easily observed in
everyday life? For example, why don’t we feel a
force pulling us toward large buildings?
– The value for G is so small that, unless at least one of
the masses is very large, the force of gravity is
negligible.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Ocean Tides
• What causes the tides?
• How often do they occur?
• Why do they occur at certain times?
• Are they at the same time each day?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Ocean Tides
• Newton’s law of universal gravitation is used to explain
the tides.
– Since the water directly below the moon is closer than
Earth as a whole, it accelerates more rapidly toward
the moon than Earth, and the water rises.
– Similarly, Earth accelerates more rapidly toward the
moon than the water on the far side. Earth moves
away from the water, leaving a bulge there as well.
– As Earth rotates, each location on Earth passes
through the two bulges each day.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Gravity is a Field Force

• Earth, or any other mass,
creates a force field.
• Forces are caused by an
interaction between the
field and the mass of the
object in the field.
• The gravitational field (g)
points in the direction of
the force, as shown.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Calculating the value of g

• Since g is the force acting on a 1 kg object, it
has a value of 9.81 N/m (on Earth).
– The same value as ag (9.81 m/s2)
• The value for g (on Earth) can be calculated
as shown below.
Fg
GmmE GmE
g  2
 2
m mr r

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Classroom Practice Problems

• Find the gravitational force that Earth
(mE = 5.97  1024 kg) exerts on the moon
(mm= 7.35  1022 kg) when the distance between
them is 3.84 x 108 m.
– Answer: 1.99 x 1020 N

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

What do you think?

• Make a sketch showing the path of Earth as it

orbits the sun.
• Describe the motion of Earth as it follows this
path.
• Describe the similarities and differences
between the path and motion of Earth and that
of other planets.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

What do you think?

• What does the term weightless mean to you?

• Have you ever observed someone in a
weightless environment? If so, when?
• How did their weightless environment differ from a
normal environment?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Kepler’s Laws
• Johannes Kepler built his ideas on planetary motion
using the work of others before him.
– Nicolaus Copernicus and Tycho Brahe

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Kepler’s Laws
• Kepler’s first law
– Orbits are elliptical, not circular.
– Some orbits are only slightly elliptical.
• Kepler’s second law
– Equal areas are swept out in equal time intervals.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Kepler’s Laws
• Kepler’s third law
– Relates orbital period (T) to distance from the sun (r)
• Period is the time required for one revolution.
– As distance increases, the period increases.
• Not a direct proportion
• T2/r3 has the same value for any object orbiting the sun

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Equations for Planetary Motion

• Using SI units, prove that the units are consistent for

each equation shown above.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Classroom Practice Problems

page 243

• The color-enhanced image of Venus were shown here

was compiled from data taken by Magellan, the first
planetary spacecraft to be launched from a space
shuttle. During the space craft’s fifth orbit around Venus,
Magellan traveled at a mean altitude of 361km.If the orbit
had been circular, what would Magellan’s period and
speed have been.{use r2=6.05x106 }(m=4.87x1024
– Answer: 5.66x103
– Answer: 7.12  103 m/s

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Weight and Weightlessness

• Bathroom scale
– A scale measures the downward force exerted on it.
– Readings change if someone pushes down or lifts up
on you.
• Your scale reads the normal force acting on you.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Apparent Weightlessness

• Elevator at rest: the scale reads the weight (600 N).

• Elevator accelerates downward: the scale reads less.
• Elevator in free fall: the scale reads zero because it no
longer needs to support the weight.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Apparent Weightlessness
• You are falling at the same rate as your
surroundings.
– No support force from the floor is needed.
• Astronauts are in orbit, so they fall at the same
rate as their capsule.
• True weightlessness only occurs at great
distances from any masses.
– Even then, there is a weak gravitational force.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

• Weightlessness means apparent weight loss

• No support force is required

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Now what do you think?

• Make a sketch showing the path of Earth as it

orbits the sun. (path should be slightly elliptical)
• Describe the motion of Earth as it follows this
path.(greater near the sun and lower at greater
distance)
• Describe the similarities and differences
between the path and motion of Earth and that
of other planets.(It may cause acceleration or deceleration)

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=Dvoe8Ib5D1o

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

What do you think?

• Doorknobs come in a variety of styles. Describe

some that you have seen.
• Which style of doorknob is easiest to use? Why?
• List the names of any simple machines you can
recall.
• What is the purpose of a simple machine?
• Provide an example.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Rotational and Translational Motion

• Consider a tire on a moving car.
– Translational motion is the movement of the center of
mass.
• The entire tire is changing positions.
– Rotational motion is the movement around an axis.
• Rotation occurs around a center.
• Changes in rotational motion are caused by
torques.
– Torque is the ability of a force to affect rotation.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

-When an object spins it is said to undergo rotational motion.

(motion of a body as it spins around an axis of rotation)

- Axis of rotation – a fixed point, around which something turns,

perpendicular to the rotation

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

-Objects can rotate in multiple

directions (dimensions) at the

same time (x, y, and z), which

would give

them multiple

axes of

rotation

relative to
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

What is torque?
– Torque is a tendency of a force to rotate an object
about an axis

– A force applied to an extended object can produce a

torque.

– This torque in turn causes the object to rotate.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

The object rotates about an axis.

The lever arm is the distance (in meters) from the

axis of rotation to the point where the force acts.

The applied force is the force applied to the lever

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

• Torque – a quantity that measures the ability of

a force to rotate an object
around some axis
• Lever arm – perpendicular distance from the
axis of rotation to a line drawn along the
direction of force

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Torque
• Torque depends on the force
(F) and the length of the lever
arm (d).

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Torque

• Torque also depends on the angle between the force (F)

and the distance (d).
• Which situation shown above will produce the most
torque on the cat-flap door? Why?
– Figure (a), because the force is perpendicular to the distance

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Example – Trying to open a door by pushing or

pulling at the handle vs. trying to open the door by
pushing or pulling beside the hinge. Which is
harder?

** Torque is rotational work

** More torque is produced with a longer lever arm.
** When doing work, you want to maximize torque by
making the lever arm as long as possible, thus
making the rotation easier. Long wrench vs. short
wrench.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

• The direction that you apply the force is rather

important

• If you apply your force in the same direction as the

object moves… less effort is needed with a longer
lever

• If you apply your force opposite the direction that

the object moves…more effort is needed with a
longer lever

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

- Torque will be positive or negative based on the

direction of rotation
- Most simple machines rely on rotational motion
to work

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Torque = force x lever arm x angle of

rotation

= F•d•(sinθ)

= torque
F = force
d = distance from applied
force to axis of rotation
θ = angle of rotation

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Torque

• SI units: N•m
– Not joules because torque is not
energy
• The quantity “d sin ” is the
perpendicular distance from the
axis to the direction of the force.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Torque as a Vector
• Torque has direction.
– Torque is positive if it causes a
counterclockwise rotation.
– Torque is negative if it causes a
clockwise rotation.
• Are the torques shown to the
right positive or negative?
– The wrench produces a positive
torque.
– The cat produces a negative
torque.
• Net torque is the sum of the
torques.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

You try…
• A force of 50 newtons is applied to a wrench that
is 30 centimeters long.
• Calculate the torque if the force is applied
perpendicular to the wrench so the lever arm is
30 cm
• 0.3 m
• 50x0.3= 15N.m

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

• If the doorknob was placed in the middle of a

door, rather than at the edge..how much more
force would be needed to produce the same
torque for opening the door?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Classroom Practice Problems

• Suppose the force on the wrench is
65.0 N and the lever arm is 20.0 cm.
The angle () between the
force and lever arm is 35.0°.
Calculate the torque.
– Answer: 7.46 N•m
• What force would be required to
produce the same torque if the force
was perpendicular to the lever arm?
– Answer: 37.3 N

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Simple Machines
• Change the size or direction of the input force
• Mechanical advantage (MA) compares the input
force to the output force.
– When Fout > Fin then MA > 1
• MA can also be determined from the distances
the input and output forces move.
Fout din
MA  
Fin dout

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Simple Machines
• Simple machines alter the force
and the distance moved.
• For the inclined plane shown:
– F2 < F1 so MA >1 and d2 > d1
• If the ramp is frictionless, the
work is the same in both cases.
– F1d1 = F2d2
• With friction, F2d2 > F1d1.
– The force is reduced but the work
done is greater.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Efficiency of Simple Machines

• Efficiency measures work output compared to
work input.
– In the absence of friction, they are equal.
• Real machines always have efficiencies less
than 1, but they make work easier by changing
the force required to do the work.
Wout
eff 
Win

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Circular Motion and Gravitation Section 1

Now what do you think?

• Doorknobs come in a variety of styles. Describe

some that you have seen.
• Which style of doorknob is easiest to use? Why?
• List the names of any simple machines you can
recall.
• What is the purpose of a simple machine?
• Provide an example.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company