Circular Motion

Purpose of lab
Find out the relation between centripetal acceleration of an object moving with a
constant speed in a circular path.

Measurements and Results

m = 9.07 0.011 degrees/second

360
16

scaling factor =

2 =

= 204.075 0.2475 degrees/second

r = 10 cm or 0.1 m

)( )

Equations

0.00432 2 3.56
+
0.10
0.01

f =0.1831

v
r

v =0.10 m3.56
v =0.356 m/ s

used to find the error

f =

a=

Equations

used to find Velocity and

Acceleration

df
df
d
f =
dr

204.075
180

v =r

df 2 df
+
d
dr

2 =3.56 radians/sec

f =

1
180 (Have to find

terms of radians)

2 =

Given:
r error = 0.005 m

f=

1 =mscaling factor

)( )

a=

0.356 2
0.1

a=1.267 m/s2

radians
sec

in

Analyze
During the experiment we were given all out data in degree/second and needed to
change them from degree/second to radian/second. In order to do that we had to
multiply degree/seconds by

180

to convert them to radians.

Calculations Questions
1.) Find velocity with 10cm radius and the velocity error.

v =r

v =r

v =0.10 m3.56

v =0.356

radians
sec

v =0.10 m0.2475

m
s

v =0.356 0.02475

v =0.02475

m
s

m
s

The experimental velocity is 0.356 m/s with an error of 0.02475 m/s.

2.) Find acceleration with a 10 cm radius and the acceleration error.
2

a=

v
r

a=

0.356
0.1

a=
2

a=

0.005
0.1

v
r

a=1.267

m
2
s

a=0.000187

m
2
s

a=1.267 0.000187 m/ s2
The experimental acceleration is 1.267 m/s/s with an error of 0.000187 m/s/s.

Synthesize
1. What was the independent variable?
The independent variable is time. Time was controlled so that we can analyze
degrees of rotation.
2. What variables did you measure?
Measured the degrees of rotation. We did this by measuring the amount of times
the apparatus rotated across the laser.

Error Analysis
What are the sources of error in this experiment?
The equipment could had malfunctioned like, the laser was blocked by a small
particle and gave us wrong data. Also there could have been an overhang or
another slit on the plate with cuts that was rotating, it could have given us wrong
data also.

Conclusion
Overall the experiment was very hard to understand because there was confusion in
understanding partial derivatives. But after the experiment was finished and we
collected all the data we needed, the data fell into its places we were able to finish
our calculations. Also the angular velocity was dependent on how fast you pushed
the apparatus, so every group had different data depending on how fast they
pushed the apparatus.