igwenzi

CIRCULAR MOTION
Circular motion is a movement of an object along the circumference of a circle or rotation
along a circular path or a circular orbit.

 It can be uniform, that is, with constant angular rate of rotation (and thus constant speed),
or non-uniform, that is, with a changing rate of rotation.

UNIFORM CIRCULAR MOTION

Uniform circular motion describes the motion of a body traversing a circular path at constant
speed. The distance of the body from the axis of rotation remains constant at all times.

 Though the body's speed is constant, its velocity is not constant:[ velocity is a vector
quantity, depends on both the body's speed and its direction of travel.]
 This changing velocity indicates the presence of an acceleration called centripetal
acceleration which is of constant magnitude and is always directed towards the centre of
the circle.

The acceleration a of an object moving in a circle of radius r with speed v is given by the
expression
2
v
a c=
r

This acceleration is, in turn, produced by a centripetal force which is also constant in magnitude
and directed towards the axis of rotation given by;
2
mv
F c= ; since F=ma
r

RADIANS
In circular motion, it is convenient to measure angles in radians rather than degrees.

One radian (rad ) is defined as the angle subtended at the centre of a circle by an arc equal in
length to the radius.

Thus to obtain an angle in radians, the length of the arc is divided by the radius of the circle.

length of ar c
θ=
radius of ¿˚ ¿

HTC: Physics Notes| igwenzi 1

 igwenzi

Angle in radians of a complete circle is

θ=circumference of ¿˚ ¿
˚ 2 πr
radius of ¿= =2 π ¿
r

Since the angle of a complete circle is 3600, then

2 π rad =360 °

Magnitude of 1 rad in degrees is found by dividing both sides by2 π .

i.e. 2 π rad =360

360 °
1 rad= =57.3°
2π

ANGULAR VELOCITY (ω )

For an object moving in a circle, the angular speed ω is the angle swept out by the radius per
second i.e.

θ
ω=
t

units of angular speed ω = rad s-1.

θ=ωt

The time taken to complete motion in a circle is called the period T and is given as:-

2π
T= since angle moved θ=2 π ;∧hence
ω

2π 1
ω= =2 πf since frequence , f =
T T

HTC: Physics Notes| igwenzi 2

 igwenzi

Consider an object moving at constant speed v in a circle of radius r. In time t, the object moves
along an arc s and sweeps out an angle θ .

From the definition of the radian,

s
θ=
r

s=rθ

Dividing both sides by t gives

s
t
=r
θ
t
;but [ ]
s
t
θ
=v ;∧[ =ω]
t
∴ v=rω

where s/t = linear speed, v.

DERIVATION OF ACCELERATION IN A CIRCLE

An object of mass m moving in a circle of radius r with linear speed v and angular speed ω has,

(a) Centripetal acceleration,

2
v 2
a= =ω r
r
(b) Centripetal force;
2
mv 2
F= =mω r
r

PROOF OF CENTRIPETAL ACCELERATION

From (a);
S v∆t
θ= =
r r
We can draw a similar triangle (b) with
velocities and conclude:
∆v
θ=
v
Setting the two expressions for θ equal
and solving for acceleration gives:
∆v v ∆t
=
v r
2
∆v v
a= =
∆t r

HTC: Physics Notes| igwenzi 3

 igwenzi

Example 1: (a) Calculate the mean angular speed of the earth assuming it takes 24 hours to
rotate about its axis.
(b) An object of mass 2.0 kg is (i) at the poles (ii) at the equator.
Assuming the earth is a perfect sphere of radius 6.4 x 106 m. Calculate the
change in weight of the mass when taken to the equator. Explain your
calculations with the aid of a diagram.

Solution:

2π −5
(a) Angular speed of the earth, ω= =7.27 ×10 rads
24 ×60 × 60

(b) (i) weight of object at the poles, W p =mg=2 × 9.8=19.6 N

(i) Weight of object at the poles = mg + Centripetal force

2
W E=mg+ mr ω

¿ 19.6+2 ( 6.4 × 106 ) ¿ r

¿ 19.668

The change in weight is 0.068 N

CONICAL PENDULUM

Consider a pendulum inclined to the vertical by an angle θ is whirled around a horizontal circle
of radius r.

The horizontal component of the tension T in the

rope will be equal to the centripetal force.
i.e. θ
T cos θ

θ T 2
mv
Tsinθ= .. . . .. . . [ 1 ]
r r
Tsin θ
Since the mass does not mve vertically, its weight
mg is balanced by the vertical component;
mg
Tcosθ .

Tcosθ=mg. . . .. . . ..[2]

HTC: Physics Notes| igwenzi 4

 igwenzi

Dividing [1] by [2] gives;

2
Tsinθ m v
=
Tcosθ mrg
2
sinθ v
=
cosθ rg
2
v
Tanθ= . . .. . . .. . . .. . .[3]
rg

Example 2: An object of mass 10 kg is whirled round a horizontal circle of radius 4 m by

revolving a string inclined to the vertical. If the uniform speed of the object is 5 m/s, calculate:
(i) the tension in the string (ii) the angle of inclination of the string to the vertical.

Solution:

v
2
mg
tanθ= T=
rg cosθ

5
2 10 × 9.8
¿ ¿
4 × 9.8 cos 32.5 °
θ=32.5° ¿ 116.2°

MOTION IN A VERTICAL CIRCLE

Consider an object of mass m which is whirled with constant speed v in a vertical circle of
centre O by a string of length r.

Let the tension in the string be T1 at the bottom of the circle, T2 at the sides and T3 at the top.

At the bottom of the circle:

2
mv
T 1−mg=
r
2
mv
T 1= +mg
r

At the sides of the circle:

HTC: Physics Notes| igwenzi 5

 igwenzi

2
mv
T 2=
r

At the top of the circle:

2
mv
T 3+ mg=
r
2
mv
T 3= −mg
r

So, as the object goes round the circle the tension in the string varies being greatest at the bottom
of the circle and least at the top. Therefore if the string is to break it will be at the bottom of the
path where it has to not only support the object but also pull it up out of it straight-line path.

If water is placed in a bucket

Motion round a banked track.

HTC: Physics Notes| igwenzi 6