Circular motion and newton's

laws applications
 Circular Motion Terms
• The point or line that is the center of the circle is the axis of
rotation.
• If the axis of rotation is inside the object, the object is rotating
(spinning).
• If the axis of rotation is outside the object, the object is revolving.

Linear/Tangential Velocity
• Objects moving in a circle still have a linear velocity =
distance/time.
• This is often called tangential velocity, since the
direction of the linear velocity is tangent to the circle.
v
 Circular motion
• When a particle moves in a circle, its motion is called circular
motion. For example
i. Motion of planets around the sun
ii. Motion of satellites around the earth,
iii. Motion of electrons around the nucleus, etc.
• when a body is moving along circular path with uniform
speed, it has acceleration due to continuously changing
direction,. In this type of motion velocity and acc are always
perpendicular to each other.
• An object moving along a circular path is not traveling in
a straight line. This means that you cannot use the
straight-line kinematics formulas developed in previous
lessons to describe the motion of such an object.
– You must use the equations for circular motion which we are
about to demonstrate/derive.
Uniform Circular Motion Analyzed
Consider an object moving with a
v2 constant speed in a circular path.
At time t1 the object has a velocity
v1. At time t2 the object has a
v1 velocity v2. These velocity vectors
have the same magnitude
since the speed is constant.

v2 The acceleration of the object is

given by:  v   
v v
a  2 1
t t
v1 Thus, the direction of the
acceleration is the same as the
direction of the velocity change (v2 -
v1).
 Uniform Circular Motion Analyzed
v2 To get the direction of the velocity
change, we note that v2 - v1 = v2 +
-v1 v1
(-v1), where -v1 is a vector that is
v identical to v1 but points in the
opposite direction.

The acceleration of the object

points in the direction of the
velocity change. Now comes the
We want the direction of the placement of the acceleration
instantaneous acceleration. vector. Where does it go? Well,
We note that if an object remember that the expression we
moves with an acceleration are using gives the average
that is constant in magnitude, acceleration of the
the average and instantaneous object.
value are the same only at the
midpoint of the time interval.
Uniform Circular Motion Analyzed
v2
Because this object is moving at a
-v1 v1 constant speed, the middle of the
time interval happens to coincide to
the middle of the distance interval.
a We move the velocity change vector
to the middle of the distance interval
and re-labeling it as the acceleration
vector.
We note that the diagram can be
rotated about any angle without
changing the relative orientation of
the vectors. As we rotate the
diagram, we note one important
feature: the acceleration vector for
this object always points toward the
center of the circular path!
 Speed/Velocity in a Circle
Consider an object moving in a circle
around a specific origin. The DISTANCE
the object covers in ONE REVOLUTION is
called the CIRCUMFERENCE. The TIME
that it takes to cover this distance is called
the PERIOD. d 2r
scircle  
T T
Speed is the MAGNITUDE of the velocity.
And while the speed may be constant, the
VELOCITY is NOT. Since velocity is a
vector with BOTH magnitude AND
direction, we see that the direction of the
velocity is ALWAYS changing.

We call this velocity, TANGENTIAL velocity as

its direction is drawn TANGENT to the circle.
Drawing the Directions correctly
So for an object traveling in a
counter-clockwise path. The velocity
would be drawn TANGENT to the
circle and the acceleration would be
drawn TOWARDS the CENTER.

To find the MAGNITUDES of each

we have:

2r v 2
vc  ac 
T r
 Circular Motion and N.S.L
2
v
Recall that according to FNET  ma ac 
Newton’s Second Law, the
r
2
acceleration is directly mv
FNET  Fc 
proportional to the Force. r
If this is true:
Fc  Centripetal Force
Since the acceleration and the force are directly
related, the force must ALSO point towards the center.
This is called CENTRIPETAL FORCE.

NOTE: The centripetal force is a NET FORCE. It could be

represented by one or more forces. So NEVER draw it in an
F.B.D.
 Examples
The blade of a windshield wiper moves
through an angle of 90 degrees in 0.28
seconds. The tip of the blade moves on the
arc of a circle that has a radius of 0.76m.
What is the magnitude of the centripetal
acceleration of the tip of the blade?
2r 2 (.76)
vc  vc   4.26 m / s
T (.28 * 4)

v 2 (4.26) 2
ac    23.92 m / s 2
r 0.76
 Examples
What is the minimum coefficient of static friction
Top view necessary to allow a penny to rotate along a 33 1/3 rpm
record (diameter= 0.300 m), when
the penny is placed at the outer edge of the record?

F f  Fc rev 1 min
33.3 *  0.555 rev
min 60 sec sec
mv 2
FN FN  1sec
Ff r  1.80 sec T
0.555 rev rev
mv 2
mg  2r 2 (0.15)
mg r vc    0.524 m / s
T 1.80
v2
Side view  v2 (0.524) 2
rg    0.187
rg (0.15)(9.8)
 Examples
The maximum tension that a 0.50 m
string can tolerate is 14 N. A 0.25-kg T mg
ball attached to this string is being
whirled in a vertical circle. What is
the maximum speed the ball can
have (a) the top of the circle, (b)at
the bottom of the circle?

mv 2
FNET  Fc  mac 
r
mv 2
T  mg   r (T  mg )  mv 2
r
r (T  mg ) 0.5(14  (0.25)(9.8))
v 
m 0.25
v  5.74 m / s
 Examples
At the bottom? mv 2
FNET  Fc  mac 
r
mv 2
T  mg   r (T  mg )  mv 2
r
r (T  mg ) 0.5(14  (0.25)(9.8))
v 
m 0.25
v  4.81 m / s
T

mg
 Problem 1
A biker travels once around a circular
track of radius 20.0m in 3s.
Calculate:
a) the average tangential speed
b) the frequency
c) the period
Answers: 41.9m/s, f=0.33Hz, T=3s
Problem 2
A coin sits 0.10m from the center of a
record player spinning at 45rpm.
a) What is the frequency in Hertz?
b) What is the period?
c) What is the linear speed?
Answer: 0.75Hz, 1.33s, 0.47m/s