Introduction

The centripetal force apparatus consists of a rotating mass whose angular velocity around a vertical
axis can be varied. The apparatus allows you to study the concepts of the circular motion, centripetal
force and centripetal acceleration.

Procedure

Construct the centripetal force apparatus

Determine the masses of the empty mass carriages on the rotating platform.

Connect the string from the force sensor to the sliding mass carriage on the rotating platform. It is
noticed that the string should be coming directly through the frictionless pulleys.

Add the same mass to both the sliding and fixed mass carriages.

After the zero process, rotate the system manually by the rotation shaft (spindle) which will cause a
circular motion applied on the platform.

Theory

An object that moves in a circle at constant speed (v=constant) is said to experience uniform circular
motion. The magnitude of the velocity remains constant in this case, but the direction of the velocity
continuously changes as the object moves around the circle. Therefore, an object revolving in a circle
is continuously accelerating even when the speed remains constant

The magnitude of this acceleration is given by:

a=v2/r

The centripetal force can also be expressed in terms of the angular velocity. To describe rotational
motion, we make use of angular quantities, such as angular velocity and angular acceleration. If the
angular velocity of an object changes, the rotating object has an angular acceleration.

The linear velocity ( v ) of any object rotating about a fixed axis is related to the angular velocity  by:

v=w.r

The centripetal force produces a centripetal acceleration on the mass. Here, the magnitude of the
centripetal acceleration in terms of angular velocity is found to be

ar=w2.r
An object with mass (m) moving in a circular motion requires a centripetal force to keep it in the
circular path. Without that force, the mass would slide off in a straight line instead of moving in a
circle. The centripetal force is always directed inward toward the center of the circle. In the
experiment, the force acting on the mass during this circular motion is the tension (T) on the string.
Since the centripetal force is the tension (T) in the string, we get:

T=F=m.v2/r