British Scientist

1731-1810

The value of the Universal

Gravitation Constant G was
experimentally determined
in 1798 by Lord Henry
Cavendish using a torsion
balance.
The idea of placing
satellites in orbit around
the earth was
considered by Newton
three centuries ago.
In a “thought”
experiment a.k.a.
“Newton’s Cannonball”
- he imagined how
satellites could be made
to orbit around the
Earth.
 Five projectiles were launched with
different horizontal velocities from a
high altitude.
 Projectile D has a greater initial
velocity than A, B, and C and its
trajectory shows that it has longer path
than the other three.
 Projectile E on the other hand, was
launched with an initial velocity
greater than D and its trajectory shows
that it follows the Earth’s curvature and
it did not fall back on Earth’s surface.
UNIFORM CIRCULAR MOTION
is the motion of an object
along a circular path while
maintaining a radius (r) with
a constant speed (v)
UNIFORM CIRCULAR MOTION
the acceleration (a) is
always directed towards the
center of its circular path
called centripetal
acceleration (ac)
THE SPEED OF AN OBJECT IN UNIFORM
CIRCULAR MOTION:
𝒅
𝒗= where d – circumference of the
𝑻
circular path (C = 2πr)
and T – period – the time needed
to complete one revolution
Thus,
2πr 2πr
𝒗= ; then, 𝑻 =
𝑻 𝒗
Uniform Circular Motion is governed by
Newton’s Second Law of Motion:
𝐹𝑛𝑒𝑡
Recall that 𝑎∝ or 𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎
𝑚
- The acceleration (a) towards the center
is caused by a net force directed
towards the center called CENTRIPETAL
ACCELERATION
Consider an object whirled around a
horizontal circle:
CENTRIPETAL FORCE
– the force exerted by
the string that pulls
the object in UCM
towards the center.
CENTRIPETAL FORCE is given by:
𝐹𝑐 = 𝑚𝑎𝑐 where m – mass of the object
𝑎𝑐 - centripetal acceleration
𝑣 2 4π 𝑟 2
𝑎𝑐 = ;in terms of speed (v): 𝑎𝑐 =
𝑟 𝑇2
𝑚𝑣 2 𝑚4π 𝑟2
Then, 𝐹𝑐 = or 𝐹𝑐 =
𝑟 𝑇2
FREQUENCY – the number of revolution a
body makes per unit time
1 𝑛𝑜.𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝑓= or 𝑓=
𝑇 𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑝𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒

Unit: 1/s = 1 Hz
ACCDG. TO NEWTON’S THIRD LAW:
 ifobject A exerts a force towards another
object B, object B exerts a force in equal
magnitude but in opposite direction on
object A
 Thus, if the string exerts a force on the
object, the object also exerts an equal but
opposite force on the string called
centrifugal force.
CENTIFUGAL – means “fleeing”
away from the center
CENTRIFUGAL FORCE – a force
that acts away from the
center
 An object whirled around a
horizontal circle maintains the
uniform circular motion because of
the CENTRIPETAL FORCE produced
by the tension of the string as a
reaction force to the CENTRIFUGAL
FORCE exerted by the object.
SAMPLE PROBLEMS:
1. Katrina is standing at the edge of a rotating
disc with a radius of 1.50 m. If it takes 7.00 s to
complete every revolution, what is Katrina’s
centripetal acceleration? How many revolution
can Katrina make in 30.0 s?
2. A 2 kg ball on a string is rotated about a circle
of radius 10 m. The maximum tension allowed in
the string is 50 N. What is the maximum speed
of the ball?
SAMPLE PROBLEMS:
3. A satellite is said to be in geosynchronous orbit if it
rotates around the earth once every day. For the earth,
all satellites in geosynchronous orbit must rotate at a
distance of 4.23×107 meters from the earth's center.
What is the magnitude of the acceleration felt by a
geosynchronous satellite?