Circular Motion and Gravitation Worksheet
1. A 2500 kg car enters a curve with a radius of
45 m. If the car is moving at a speed of 35 m/s,
what is the centripetal force that maintains the car’s
circular motion through the curve?
2. A 75 kg student is riding on a carousel at a speed
of 4.0 m/s. If the centripetal force is 240 N, what is
the carousel’s radius?
3. A 25 kg girl sits on a carousel 5.0 m from the axis
of rotation. If centripetal force is 80. N, what is the
speed that maintains her circular motion?
4. A NASCAR driver weighing 75 kg enters a
corner with a radius of 155 m with a speed of
125 m/s. What is the frictional force that maintains
circular motion?
5. A girl sits on a tire swing that is attached with a
rope that is 2.10 m in length. Her dad pushes her
with a speed of 2.50 m/s. If the centripetal force is
88.0 N, what is the girl’s mass?
6. A bicycle racer is riding around a circular track
with a radius of 40.0 m, completing one lap in
19.0 s. If the the centripetal force is 377 N, what is
the combined mass of the bike and rider?
7. A 905 kg test car travels around a circular track
that has a circumference of 3.25 km. If the
centripetal force is 2140 N, what is the car’s period?
8. A pilot is flying a small plane at 30.0 m/s in a
circular path with a radius of 100.0 m. If 635 N of
centripetal force of is needed to maintain the pilot’s
circular motion, what is the pilot’s mass?
9. A race car moves around a circular track at a
constant speed of 50. m/s. If the track has a radius
of 80. m and the car has a mass of 1200 kg, find
a) the centripetal acceleration of the car.
b) the centripetal force required to keep the car in
this circular path.
Answers
1) 68000 N 2) 5.0 m 3) 4.0 m/s
6) 86.5 kg 7) 92.9 s 8) 70.6 kg
9b) 37000 or 38000 N 10) 0.569 11) 0.13 s
13b) F x 9/4 13c) F x 1/9 13d) F x 4/9
15) 1.00 x 103 kg 16) 274 m/s2 17) 9.8040 m/s2
10. A car traveling at a speed of 16.7 m/s makes a
turn with a radius of 50.0 m. What minimum
coefficient must be present between the tires and
the roadway to allow the car to make this turn if the
mass of the car is 2000. kg?
11. Young David spent some time experimenting
with slings before he decided to mess with Goliath.
He found that he could develop a speed of 30. m/s,
with a mass of 2.0 kg on his sling and a radius of
0.60 m. What was the sling’s period?
12. Calculate the weight of a 50.0 kg mass on the
moon. (The mass of the moon is approximately
7.36 × 1022 kg; the radius is 1.738 × 106 m.)
13. Using Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation,
what happens to the force if
a) both masses are tripled?
b) the masses are not changed, but the distance of
separation is reduced to 2/3 the original
distance?
c) the masses are not changed, but the distance of
separation is tripled?
d) both masses are doubled, and the distance of
separation is tripled?
e) one of the masses is doubled, the other remains
unchanged, and the distance of separation is
quadrupled?
14. The force of gravity between two 74.0 kg
physics students that are sitting 85.0 cm apart.
15. Find the force of gravity between a cubic meter
of water and the Sun is 5.90 N. The Sun’s mass is
1.99 x 1030 kg and is 1.50 x 1011 m away. Determine
the mass of the water.
16. The Sun’s mass is 1.99 x 1030 kg and it has a
radius of 6.96 x 108 m. What is the Sun’s
gravitational acceleration at its surface?
17. What is the gravitational acceleration to 5
significant figures at the top of Mt. Everest which is
8400 m above sea level? (The mass of the Earth is
5.98 x 1024 kg; the radius of the Earth is
6.37 x 106 m.)
4) 7600 N 5) 29.6 kg
9a) 31 m/s2
12) 81.3 N 13a) F x 9
13e) F x 1/8 14) 5.06 x 10-7 N