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CircularMotionandSatelliteMotionLesson1MotionCharacteristicsforCircularMotion

MathematicsofCircularMotion
SpeedandVelocity
Acceleration
TheCentripetalForceRequirement
TheForbiddenFWord
MathematicsofCircularMotion

Therearethreemathematicalquantitiesthatwillbeofprimaryinteresttousasweanalyzethemotion
ofobjectsincircles.Thesethreequantitiesarespeed,accelerationandforce.Thespeedofanobject
movinginacircleisgivenbythefollowingequation.

Theaccelerationofanobjectmovinginacirclecanbedeterminedbyeithertwoofthefollowing
equations.

Theequationontheright(above)isderivedfromtheequationontheleftbythesubstitutionofthe
expressionforspeed.
Thenetforce(Fnet)actinguponanobjectmovingincircularmotionisdirectedinwards.Whilethere
maybymorethanoneforceactingupontheobject,thevectorsumofallofthemshouldadduptothe
netforce.Ingeneral,theinwardforceislargerthantheoutwardforce(ifany)suchthattheoutward
forcecancelsandtheunbalancedforceisinthedirectionofthecenterofthecircle.Thenetforceis
relatedtotheaccelerationoftheobject(asisalwaysthecase)andisthusgivenbythefollowingthree
equations:

Theequationsinthemiddle(above)andontheright(above)arederivedfromtheequationontheleft
bythesubstitutionoftheexpressionsforacceleration.
Thissetofcircularmotionequationscanbeusedintwoways:
asa"recipe"foralgebraicproblemsolvinginordertosolveforanunknownquantity.
asaguidetothinking abouthowanalterationinonequantitywouldaffectasecondquantity.
Thesetwowaysareillustratedbelow.


EquationsasaGuidetoThinking
Anequationexpressesamathematicalrelationshipbetweenthequantitiespresentinthatequation.For
instance,theequationforNewton'ssecondlawidentifieshowaccelerationisrelatedtothenetforce
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andthemassofanobject.

Therelationshipexpressedbytheequationisthattheaccelerationofanobjectisdirectlyproportional
tothenetforceactinguponit.Inotherwords,thebiggerthenetforcevalueis,thebiggerthatthe
accelerationvaluewillbe.Asnetforceincreases,theaccelerationincreases.Infact,ifthenetforce
wereincreasedbyafactorof2,theequationwouldpredictthattheaccelerationwouldincreasebya
factorof2.Similarly,ifthenetforceweredecreasedbyafactorof2,theequationwouldpredictthat
theaccelerationwoulddecreasebyafactorof2.
Newton'ssecondlawequationalsorevealstherelationshipbetweenaccelerationandmass.Accordingto
theequation,theaccelerationofanobjectisinverselyproportionaltomassoftheobject.Inother
words,thebiggerthemassvalueis,thesmallerthattheaccelerationvaluewillbe.Asmassincreases,
theaccelerationdecreases.Infact,ifthemasswereincreasedbyafactorof2,theequationwould
predictthattheaccelerationwoulddecreasebyafactorof2.Similarly,ifthemassweredecreasedbya
factorof2,theequationwouldpredictthattheaccelerationwouldincreasebyafactorof2.
Asmentionedpreviously,equationsallowforpredictionstobemadeabouttheaffectofanalterationof
onequantityonasecondquantity.SincetheNewton'ssecondlawequationshowsthreequantities,
eachraisedtothefirstpower,thepredictiveabilityoftheequationisratherstraightforward.The
predictiveabilityofanequationbecomesmorecomplicatedwhenoneofthequantitiesincludedinthe
equationisraisedtoapower.Forinstance,considerthefollowingequationrelatingthenetforce(Fnet)
tothespeed(v)ofanobjectmovinginuniformcircularmotion.

Thisequationshowsthatthenetforcerequiredforanobjecttomoveinacircleisdirectlyproportional
tothesquareofthespeedoftheobject.Foraconstantmassandradius,theFnetisproportionalto
thespeed2.

Thefactorbywhichthenetforceisalteredisthesquareofthefactorbywhichthespeedisaltered.
Subsequently,ifthespeedoftheobjectisdoubled,thenetforcerequiredforthatobject'scircular
motionisquadrupled.Andifthespeedoftheobjectishalved(decreasedbyafactorof2),thenetforce
requiredisdecreasedbyafactorof4.

EquationsasaRecipeforProblemSolving
Themathematicalequationspresentedaboveforthemotionofobjectsincirclescanbeusedtosolve
circularmotionproblemsinwhichanunknownquantitymustbedetermined.Theprocessofsolvinga
circularmotionproblemismuchlikeanyotherprobleminphysicsclass.Theprocessinvolvesacareful
readingoftheproblem,theidentificationoftheknownandrequiredinformationinvariableform,the
selectionoftherelevantequation(s),substitutionofknownvaluesintotheequation,andfinally
algebraicmanipulationoftheequationtodeterminetheanswer.Considertheapplicationofthisprocess
tothefollowingtwocircularmotionproblems.
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SampleProblem#1
A900kgcarmovingat10m/stakesaturnaroundacirclewitharadiusof25.0m.
Determinetheaccelerationandthenetforceactinguponthecar.
Thesolutionofthisproblembeginswiththeidentificationoftheknownandrequestedinformation.
KnownInformation:
RequestedInformation:
m=900kg
v=10.0m/s a=????
Fnet=????
R=25.0m

Todeterminetheaccelerationofthecar,usetheequationa=v2/R.Thesolutionisasfollows:
a=v2/R
a=(10.0m/s)2/(25.0m)
a=(100m2/s2)/(25.0m)
a=4m/s2
Todeterminethenetforceactinguponthecar,usetheequationFnet=ma.Thesolutionisasfollows.
Fnet=ma
Fnet=(900kg)(4m/s2)
Fnet=3600N


SampleProblem#2
A95kghalfbackmakesaturnonthefootballfield.Thehalfbacksweepsoutapaththatisa
portionofacirclewitharadiusof12meters.Thehalfbackmakesaquarterofaturnaround
thecirclein2.1seconds.Determinethespeed,accelerationandnetforceactinguponthe
halfback.
Thesolutionofthisproblembeginswiththeidentificationoftheknownandrequestedinformation.
KnownInformation: RequestedInformation:

m=95.0kg v=????
R=12.0m a=????
Traveled1/4thofthecircumferencein2.1s Fnet=????

Todeterminethespeedofthehalfback,usetheequationv=d/twherethedisonefourthofthe
circumferenceandthetimeis2.1s.Thesolutionisasfollows:
v=d/t
v=(0.252piR)/t
v=(0.2523.1412.0m)/(2.1s)
v=8.97m/s
Todeterminetheaccelerationofthehalfback,usetheequationa=v2/R.Thesolutionisasfollows:
a=v2/R
a=(8.97m/s)2/(12.0m)
a=(80.5m2/s2)/(12.0m)
a=6.71m/s2
Todeterminethenetforceactinguponthehalfback,usetheequationFnet=ma.Thesolutionisas
follows.
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Fnet=m*a
Fnet=(95.0kg)*(6.71m/s2)
Fnet=637N

InLesson2ofthisunit,circularmotionprinciplesandtheabovemathematicalequationswillbe
combinedtoexplainandanalyzeavarietyofrealworldmotionscenariosincludingamusementpark
ridesandcirculartypemotionsinathletics.

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