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PRACTICAL FOLIO 1: CIRCULAR MOTION

AIM
To investigate uniform circular motion - centripetal force.

APPARATUS
Plastic handle, weights and weight hanger, paper clips, string, stop watch and rubber stopper

THEORY
The force needed for the rubber stopper to maintain a uniform circular motion is provided by
the force Fc as shown above. The magnitude of this force is given as

Fc = mv2/r

Fc

Weight

This force is always directed towards the center of the circle hence its name centripetal force.

PROCEDURE

1. Thread the string through the hole in the rubber stopper and tie the string back onto
itself.

2. Thread the free end of the string through the handle. The length of the thread between
the rubber stopper and the handle should be approximately one meter.

3. Hold the free end of the thread firmly in one hand and the handle in the other. Make
sure you have an area clear of people and furniture then begin to swing the rubber
stopper slowly in a horizontal circle overhead. Feel the pull on the string as the speed of
the rubber stopper increases, does the pull on the thread increase or decrease?

4. Try swinging the rubber stopper at a constant speed and slowly let some thread out to
increases the radius of the circle. How does the force on the string change? What

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happens when you let go of the string? When the string is released, the centripetal force
becomes zero.

5. After you have got a feeling for the apparatus, make some quantitative measurements
of the centripetal force.

6. Return the string to its original one meter length and slip a paper clip over the thread
just below the handle. Tie a loop in the free end of the tread. Hang the weight hanger
and a sufficient amount of weights on the weight hanger.

7. Slowly begin to swing the rubber stopper overhead. Increase the speed of the rotation
until the marking paper clip is just below the bottom of the handle (DO NOT TOUCH THE
HANDLE). The centripetal force and the gravitational force (due to the weights and
weight hanger) are in equilibrium when the paper clip marker is stationary.

8. Measure the period of the rubber stopper by timing a fixed number of revolutions. The
average speed is the circumference divided by the period.

9. Determine the mass of the paper clip, weights and weight hanger to determine the
gravitational force and hence the tension in the string.

10. Tabulate the results accordingly into the tables in page 5 and 6 and complete the table.

(word count not included for the aim, apparatus & materials, diagram set up, procedures,
safety/ethical risks and results.)