Circular motion
There are many everyday situations where objects travel in circular paths. The Earth spins on its axis and
orbits the sun. A compact disc spins on disc players when the music is being played. Electrons orbit the
nucleus of an atom. The hands of a mechanical clock follow a circular path as the time passes.
Communicating satellites orbit the earth many times a day and winds within tropical cyclones move in
circular paths. Car accidents often occur when the drivers of motor vehicles are trying to travel around a
bend in a road at high speed. A vehicle that exceeds the safe speed limit can slip off the road and usually
crash into anything along its path such as a tree or a fence. A vehicle travelling around a bend on a level
road is moving along a circular path. A vehicle travelling along a curved path is continually changing its
velocity (its speed may be constant) because the direction of the motion is always changing. So it has
acceleration. Consider a particle moving around a circle of radius r in the diagram below. At point A, the
velocity of the particle is at a tangent to the circular path. When the particle reaches point B, its velocity
still has the same magnitude, but its direction has changed. To find the acceleration, we need to determine
the average change in velocity.
Centripetal acceleration
The change in velocity = final velocity (v2) – initial (v1)
This is where we use rules of subtraction of vectors. We reverse the direction of the subtracted vector and add head
to tail to get the resultant vector. You will observe that the resultant’s direction is towards the centre of the circle.
We can also say that, the acceleration experienced by the particle directs towards the centre of the circle.
The acceleration of this type is called centripetal acceleration or in other words centre seeking acceleration. A
formula to calculate centripetal acceleration is:
v²
a¿
r
where, r, is the radius of the circular path in metres. Because it has a centripetal acceleration, a car of mass m
travelling in a circular path also experiences associated force, which is called the centripetal force. Therefore, by
using Newton’s law of motion (F = ma) we get the equation for uniform circular motion. From the equation given
above, we substitute centripetal acceleration (a) into the equation below.
mv ²
a¿
r
This centripetal force points towards the centre of the circle. If you swing a ball at the end of a string, a horizontal
circular path above your head is formed, and you can feel yourself pulling continually on the string to keep the ball in
orbit. The string applies a centripetal force to the ball. If the string breaks, the ball will fly off at a tangent to the
curved path at the point where the string broke. This behaviour is according to Newton’s first law of motion. When a
ball is whirled in a circle, it is accelerating inwards. This inward acceleration is caused by a centripetal (centre-
seeking) force — the tension in the string. The required force is equal to mv2 /r, where m is the mass of the ball, v is
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its speed, and r is its distance from the centre of revolution. The hand pulling the string experiences an outward or
centrifugal reaction force.
Centrifugal reaction force
In a car going around the bend, the centripetal force is provided by the sideways friction between the tyres and the
road surface. The centripetal force does not work in the motion; it is only one of the many forces at work.
For an object travelling in a full circle at uniform speed, v, the distance covered in one complete circuit is s = 2r. If
the time for one complete circuit is T, then;
2r
a¿ r
v² 4²r
since a¿ r , then a¿ T ²
On a level surface, friction F, is proportional to the weight W of an object. The ratio of friction to weight is equal to a
constant called the coefficient of friction (µ). The coefficient of friction depends on the nature of the surface.
Fr
µ¿
W
Where Fr , and W are measured in Newtons. W is the force of gravity acting on the object.
W = mg
Where m is the mass and g is the acceleration due to gravity. As mentioned above, for a vehicle moving around the
curve, the centripetal force is provided by the sliding friction between the tyres and the road surface.
The speed v in the last equation is taken as the maximum safe speed for rounding a curve. It depends on the
coefficient of friction between the road and the tyres and the radius of the bend since g is constant.
A vehicle can safely travel if driven at a speed that is lower than the maximum safe speed. If it is driven faster than
the safe speed, the vehicle will slip sideways because the friction force is not large enough to provide the centripetal
effect. If the road around a bend tilts at an angle, then the vehicle can travel at higher speed. Centripetal
acceleration and force In the last discussion, we saw that an object travelling along a circular path at a constant
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velocity has acceleration towards the centre of the circular path. Such acceleration is called the centripetal
acceleration (a c).
v²
a c=
r
Where v = linear velocity (m/s) and r = radius of the orbit (m)
Centripetal acceleration and force
Because of the centripetal acceleration, an object of mass m experiences a centripetal force ( F c).
For an object travelling at a uniform velocity v in a circle of radius r, the distance travelled during a complete circuit is
s = 2r.
The time taken to complete this circuit is the period of the motion.
Example 1
An aeroplane is travelling in a circle of radius 2500 metres at a speed of 200m/s. Calculate the radial acceleration of
the plane and the time to complete the revolution.
Example 2
A bus weighing 60 000N is driven at a speed of 20m/s around a horizontal bend that has a radius of 250m. What is
the centripetal force of the road on the bus?
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Circular motion at non- constant speed
A ball swinging on the end of a string in a vertical circle has a non-uniform velocity around the circle because of the
influence of gravity (the weight of the ball). The speed of the ball is highest at the bottom of the circle and lowest at
the top of the circle. The centripetal acceleration is at a minimum at the top and maximum at the bottom. (In the
figure below, T is used to represent the tension in the string, while W is the weight of the ball). The centripetal force
is the net force directed towards the centre of the circle.
circular motions at non-constant speed
The minimum velocity needed to keep the ball in the orbit is found to be the velocity at the instant when the string
begins to slacken (when T = 0 at the top). This is when,
Maximum tension happens at the bottom of the path.
Example 3
A breaking strain of a string is 196N. A length of a string is used to swing a ball in a vertical circle of radius 1.0m.
Calculate the maximum velocity the ball can have before the string breaks.
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Activity
1. A motorcycle is travelling at a constant speed of 72km/h around a circular track of radius 150m.
a) What is the centripetal acceleration?
b) How long does the cyclist take to complete one full circuit of the track?
2. A car of mass 1200kg is rounding a bend of radius 40m at a speed of 20ms-1. The coefficient of friction between
the road and the tyres is 0.71.
a) Is the car travelling above or below safe speed?
b) What will happen to the car’s motion?
3. A circus stunt motorcyclist drives around a vertical loop of radius 5m. What is the minimum velocity at the top of
the loop?
(Assume that g = 9.8m/s²)
4. A car travels over a hump in the road of radius 10m. What is the velocity at which the wheels of the car leave the
ground?
5. Find the lift force on a 400kg aeroplane pulling out of an arc – shape dive 500m, at a
velocity of 900km/h (assume g =10ms-2).
6. An aeroplane flies in a vertical circular path of radius 200m at a constant speed. The passengers feel weightless
just above the floor when the plane is at the top of a circular path.
a) At what speed must the plane be travelling?
b) Explain why the passengers feel weightless.
c) If the plane travelled along the same path with a higher velocity, what would happen to the passengers?
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