CP Physics Name _______________________

Review – Circular Motion, Gravitation, and Kepler’s Laws Date ________________________

Answers will be posted on Ms. Mac’s website. To find the answers go to:

West Orange High School Home Page

Select Teachers from the top of the page

Scroll down to M and Select Macdonald

Select Physics on the left side of the page

Answers will be on that page along with a link to a pdf showing how the problem was solved.

1. A car moves around a circular path of a constant radius at a constant speed.

Which of the following statements is true? There are two answers

A. The car’s velocity is constant

B. The car’s acceleration is constant
C. The car’s acceleration is zero
D. The car’s velocity is directed toward the center
E. The car’s acceleration is directed toward the center

2. A car moves around a circular path of a constant radius at a constant speed. When the car is at the top
of the circular path, what is the direction of the velocity? A cannot be the answer because the car
is moving COUNTERclockwise.

A. B. C.

D. E.

3. A car moves around a circular path of a constant radius at a constant speed. When the car is at the top
of the circular path, what is the direction of the acceleration?

A. B. C.

D. E.

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4. An object moves in a circular path at a constant speed. Which of the following is true?

A. The car’s acceleration is zero because it has a constant speed

B. The car’s acceleration is not zero and causes the car to slow down
C. The car’s acceleration is not zero and causes the car to speed up
D. The car’s acceleration is not zero and causes the change in the direction of the car’s
velocity
E. None from the above
5. An object experiences a uniform circular motion in a horizontal
plane, as illustrated to the right. The direction of the net force is:

A. A B. B C.C

D. D E. E

6. An object moves around a circular path at a constant speed and makes five complete revolutions in 20
seconds. What is the period of rotation?

A. 5 s B. 10 s C. 4 s D. 20 s E. 15 s

7. An object moves around a circular path at a constant speed and makes ten complete revolutions in 5
seconds. What is the frequency of rotation?

A. 2 Hz B. 4 Hz C. 6 Hz D. 10 Hz E. 20 Hz

8. An object rotates with a period of 10 s. How many revolutions will it make in 25 s?

A. 10 B. 15 C. 5 D. 2.5 E. 2

9. An object rotates with a frequency of 300Hz. How many revolutions will it make in 15 s?

A. 1000 B. 1500 C. 2000 D. 3500 E. 4500

10. An object rotates with a period of 0.5 s. What is the frequency of rotations?

A. 1.0 Hz B. 1.5 Hz C. 2.0 Hz D. 2.5 Hz E. 3.0 Hz

11. An object rotates with a frequency of 50 Hz. What is the period of rotations?

A. 0.02 s B. 0.15 s C. 0.25 s D. 0.05 s E. 0.03 s

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12. A ball of mass m moves at a constant speed v in circular path
with a radius R. Which of the following represents the net force
applied on the ball?
A. B. C.

D. E.

13. The discovery of “Universal Gravitation” is associated with:

A. Robert Hook
B. Isaac Newton
C. James Joule
D. Max Plank
E. Christian Huygens

14. Two objects with equal masses of 1 kg each are separated by a distance of 1 m. The gravitational force
between the objects is:

A. Slightly less than G

B. Slightly greater that G
C. Equal to G
D. Half as much of G
E. Twice as much of G

15. Two objects, one with a mass of m and one with a mass of 4m are attracted to each other by a
gravitational force. If the force on 4m is F, what is the force on mass m in terms of F?

A. 16F B. 4F C. F D. ¼ F E. 1/16 F

16. An apple hangs on a tree on the Earth. Which of the following statements is correct?

A. The force on the apple is greater than the force on the Earth because the Earth is more
massive.
B. The force on the Earth is greater than the force on the apple because the Earth is more
massive.
C. The force on the apple is less than the force on the Earth because the tree is supporting the
apple.
D. The forces on the apple and Earth are equal.
E. The forces on the apple and the Earth are zero because they are not touching each other.

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17. An object with a mass of 48 kg measured on Earth is taken to the Moon. What is the mass of the object
on the Moon’s surface if the acceleration due to gravity on Moon is one-sixth of that on Earth?

A. 8 kg B. 48 kg C. 288 kg D. 480 kg E. 80 kg

18. An object with a mass of 48 kg measured on Earth is taken to the Moon. What is the weight of the
object on the Moon’s surface if the acceleration due to gravity on Moon is one-sixth of that on Earth?

A. 8 N B. 48 N C. 288 N D. 480 N E. 80 N

19. A spacecraft starts on Earth is moving to Mars. Which of the following is correct about the
gravitational force on the spacecraft due to Earth’s attraction?

A. The force becomes zero when the spacecraft is half way between the planets
B. The force becomes zero when the spacecraft is closer to the surface of Mars
C. The spacecraft is never beyond the Earth’s gravitational attraction
D. The force becomes zero when the spacecraft land on the surface of Mars
E. More information is required

20. A satellite is orbiting a planet with an orbital radius r. Which of the following diagrams represents the
direction of the velocity and acceleration of the satellite?

A. B. C.

D. E.

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Short Answer:

21. A 61 kg object is experiencing a net force of 25 N while traveling in a circle of radius 35 m. What is its
velocity?

22. A 5.0 kg object is spun around in a circle of radius 1.0 m with a period of 4.0s.

A. What is the frequency of its rotation?

B. What is its velocity?

C. What is its acceleration?

23. An object is experiencing an acceleration of 12 m/s2 while traveling in a circle of radius 5.0 m. What is
its velocity?

24. Two spherical objects have masses of 8000 kg and 1500 kg. Their centers are separated by a distance
of 1.5 m. Find the gravitational attraction between them.

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25. Compute g for the surface of the moon. Its radius is 1.7 x106 m and its mass is 7.4 x 1022 kg.

26. Compute:

A. The velocity of an object orbiting at a distance of 4.5 x 107 m from the center of a spherical object
whose mass is 3.0 x 1023 kg.

B. Compute the orbital period of that object.

27. A 1000 kg asteroid is located 6.8x106 m from the center of the Mars. The mass of the Mars is 6.4x1023
kg.

a. Determine the force of gravity acting on the asteroid, due to the Mars. Calculate the magnitude
and state the direction.

b. Compare your answer in a) to the force of gravity acting on the Mars, due to the asteroid. Draw a
diagram and indicate that force on the diagram.
The forces are the same but in different directions.
c. On the diagram above, indicate the direction the asteroid would accelerate if released. Label that
vector “a”.
The asteroid would move tangent to its orbit because the velocity is tangent to the circle.
d. Calculate the acceleration the asteroid would experience.

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 e. If instead of falling, the asteroid were in a stable orbit, indicate on the diagram above a possible
direction of its velocity. Label that vector “v”.

The asteroid’s velocity is tangent to the circle.

f. Calculate the velocity the asteroid needs to be in a stable orbit.

OR

g. Calculate the period of the asteroid orbiting the earth.

Kepler’s Laws ARE included. Make sure to review them.