PHY 110

Handout III

UNIFORM CIRCULAR MOTION

Uniform Circular Motion
When a particle moves on a circular path with a constant speed, then its motion is said to be
a uniform circular motion in a plane. This motion has a velocity whose magnitude remains
constant but whose direction changes continuously. In the figure shown below, a particle P
is moving around a pivot O with a constant speed v.

The instantaneous position of P is expressed by an angle θ between a radial line OP and a

reference line OPo. |v| = v = constant. v is perpendicular to the radius rector r.

Angular displacement
Suppose a particle covers a distance ∆S along the circular path in the time interval t2 - t1
(=∆t). It revolves through the angle θ2 - θ1 (=∆θ) during the interval. The angle of revolution
∆θ is called the angular displacement of the particle. If r is the radius of the circle then the
"angular displacement" is given by ∆θ = ∆S/r, {angle = Arc / radius}. Unit of angular
displacement is the "radian". If length of arc = radius of circle then ∆θ = 1 radian.

ω)
Angular velocity (ω
The angular velocity of a particle is given by
ω = Angular displacement divided by time taken.
∆θ dθ
ω = ∆θ/∆t, ⇒ ω = Lim. = . Units are radians per second. Dimensions: [T-1]
∆t → 0 ∆t dt
2π
If T is the time taken for one revolution then ϖ = . If the particle makes n revolutions in
T
 1
one second the ϖ = 2πn n = 
 T

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Relation between Angular Velocity and Linear Velocity.
The particle covers an arc length ∆S in time ∆t. Hence angular displacement is ∆θ = ∆S/r.
∆θ ∆s 1 ∆θ 1  ∆s  1
Dividing through by ∆t, we get = . , Lim. =  Lim.  = .v
∆t ∆t r ∆t → 0 ∆t r  ∆t →0 ∆t  r
Therefore v = rω , which is the instantaneous linear velocity.

Centripetal acceleration
A particle in uniform circular motion changes direction hence velocity changes thus the
body accelerates. The direction of acceleration is always toward the centre of the circle.
Hence it is called "centripetal acceleration". Suppose a particle is moving with a uniform
speed v on a circular path whose radius r and centre o.

At every point of the path, the direction of the velocity of the particle would be tangential.
Suppose the particle covers a distance ∆S from P1 to P2 in a small time - interval ∆t. Let v1
and v2 be the velocities of the particles at P1 and P2 respectively. The magnitude of v1 and v2
is v but there's a difference of ∆θ in their directions. The velocity change from P1 to P2 is
∆v = v1 - v2 = v1 +(- v2). The triangle OP1P2 and the vector triangle QAB are similar

∆s ∆v v
Hence P1P2/ P1O = AB/ AQ, = , ⇒ ∆v = ∆s . Dividing both sides by ∆t, we
r v r
∆v v ∆s
have = . . If ∆t is infinitesimally small (∆t → 0) then
∆t r ∆t
∆v v ∆s  v 2 v2
Lim . =  Lim.  = , ⇒ a = . But v = rω , hence a = rω 2
∆t →0 ∆t r  ∆t → 0 ∆ t  r r

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This is the magnitude of the acceleration a of the particle. The direction of this acceleration
is towards the centre of the circular path.

Centripetal force
From Newton's law, acceleration is always produced by a force whose direction is the same
as that of the acceleration. A body performing circular motion is acted upon by a force,
which is always directed towards the centre of the circle - centripetal force. F = mv2/r or
F = mrω2

Examples of centripetal forces

(i) A car taking a turn requires centripetal force. This is provided by the frictional forces
between the tyres and the road.
(ii) When a stone tied to the end of string is whirled in a circular path, the centripetal
force is provided by the tension in the string created by drawing the string inward.

Centrifuges
Read about centrifuges on your own and write notes.

Motion of Bicycle Rider round Circular Track.

When a person on a bicycle rides round a circular racing track, the necessary centripetal
force mv2/r is actually provided by the frictional force F at the ground. The force F has a
moment about the centre of gravity G equal to F.h, which tends to turn the rider outward.

When the rider leans inwards as shown, this is counter balanced by the moment R.a about
G. R = mg. Since there's no vertical motion, so the moment is mg.a. Thus provided no
slipping occurs, F.h = mg.a. ⇒ a/h = tanθ = F/mg. Where θ is the angle of inclination
to the vertical. Now F = mv2/r = mg tanθ, ⇒ tanθ = v2/rg. When F is greater than the
limiting friction, skidding occurs. In this case F>ℓmg or mg tan > ℓmg. Thus tanℏ > ℓ is the
condition for skidding.

Motion of car round circular track

Suppose a car is moving with a velocity v round a horizontal circular track of radius r, and
let R1, R2 be the respective normal reactions at the wheels A, B and F1, F2 the corresponding
frictional forces. Then for circular motion we have F1+F2 = mv2/r and vertically
R1+R2 = mg. Also, taking moments about G, (F1+F2).h + R1a - R2a = 0 where 2a is the
distance between the wheels assuming G is mid-way between the wheels and h is the height

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 1  v2h 
of G above the ground. From these three equations we find R2 = m g +
2 
 and
ra 
1  v2h 
vertically, R1 = m g −
  . R2 never vanishes since it always has a positive value. But
2  ra 
if v2 = arg/h, R1 = 0, and the car turning left is about to overturn outwards. R1 will be
positive if v2 < arg/h.

Motion of Car round Banked Track

Centripetal force is required for a car to go round a bend on a level surface. The force is
provided by the frictional force exerted on the tyres by the road. A suitably banked road
removes the need to rely on friction. The normal reaction, R, of the road on the car acquires
a horizontal component (R Sin θ) as a result of banking. Using Newton's second law (F =
ma) we have, R Sinθ = ma ⇒ R Sin θ = mv2/r

There's no vertical accelerations hence R Cos θ = mg . Dividing the two equations gives
Tan θ = v2/rg. The angle of banking should be θ = tan -1 (v2/rg).

Conical Pendulum
If a pendulum bob moves in such a way that the string sweeps out a cone, then the bob will
describe a horizontal circle.

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As it can be clearly seen, there are two forces acting on the pendulum bob;
(i) its weight (mg)
(ii) the tension in the string.
Centripetal force is provided by the horizontal component of the tension (F Sinθ). Hence
from Newton's second law F Sinθ = mv2/r (where symbols have their usual meaning).
Since there is no vertical acceleration F Cosθ = mg. Again, from the two equations
tan θ = v2/rg. Note that this equation is similar to the one we got earlier for banked tracks.
Using v = ω r in the equation we get tan θ = ωr2/rg = ω2r/g. From the figure above
r = L Sinθ. Hence tanθ = ω2r/g = (ω2L sinθ)/g. ⇒ Sin θ /Cosθ = (ω2L sin θ)/g. Therefore
g LCosθ
ω= . Using equation the relation T = 2π/ω, ⇒ T = 2π
LCos g

HAVE YOU READ & UNDERSTOOD

• Uniform circular motion?

• Angular displacement?
• Units of angular displacement?
• Angular velocity?
• Dimension of Angular velocity?
• Relation between angular velocity and linear
velocity?
• Centripetal acceleration?
• Centripetal force?
• Conditions for skidding to occur?
• Motion of a car round circular track and conditions
for it to overturn.
• Banked tracks i.e. angle of banking?
• How to derive an expression of the period of the
conical pendulum?

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 SUMMARY OF KEY EXPRESSIONS

• ∆θ = ∆S/r
∆θ dθ
• ω = ∆θ/∆t, ⇒ ω = Lim. ∆t = .
∆t → 0 dt
2π
• ϖ= , v = r ω, a = rω2
T
LCosθ
• θ = tan -1 (v2/rg), T = 2π
g

EXAMPLES

E.1 A pendulum bob of mass 50g is attached to one end of a string of length 1.5m. The
bob moves in a horizontal circle in such a away that the string is inclined at 100 to the
vertical. Calculate the tension in the string and the period of the motion.

Solution
(i) F cos 100 = mg, F = mg/cos100 = (0.05 x 10)/0.98 = 0.51N
LCosθ
(ii) T = 2π = 0.77 s
g

E.2 A stone of mass 0.4kg is tied to a string of length 0.5m and whirled in a circle. If the
stone revolves uniformly and makes one complete revolution per second, calculate its
acceleration and the force exerted on the stone by the string.

Solution
(i) a = v2/r = (2π x 0.5)2/r = 19.72 m/s2
(ii) F = ma =0.4 x 19.72 =7.888 N

E.3 A mass of 2 kg is attached to a string of length 60cm. It is whirled in a circle in a

vertical plane at 5 revolutions per send about a horizontal axis. Calculate the tension in the
string when the mass is at the highest and lowest point of the circle

Solution

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 ω = 2π/T = 10π
F = mω2r = 2(10π)2 x 6.6 = 1184.4 N
Fup = mω2r - mg = 1164.4 N
Fdown = mω2r + mg = 1204.4 N

PROBLEMS
1. Define the following terms.
(i) Angular displacement
(ii) Angular velocity
(iii) Period
(iv) A radian
(v) Angular acceleration
(vi) Centripetal force
(vii) Centrifugal force
(viii) Banking of roads
Give dimensions where possible.
2. What is the speed of the tip of the minute hand of a clock, where the hand is of
length 7cm.
3. A diver performs 2½ somersaults from a 10m board. What is her average angular
velocity?
4. What is meant by centripetal force? Why does such a force do no work in a circular
orbit?
5. (a) An object of mass 0.50kg on the end of a string is whirled around a
horizontal circle of radius 2.0m with a constant speed of 10ms-1. Find its angular
velocity and the tension in the string.
(b) If the same object is now whirled in a vertical circle of the same radius with
the same speed, what are the maximum and minimum tensions in the string?
6. A curve of radius 30m is to be banked so that a car may make a turn at a speed of
13m/s without depending on friction. What must be the slope of the curve?
7. A particle is making two revolutions per second in a circular orbit of radius 10cm.
Calculate the angular velocity, linear velocity and the centripetal acceleration of the
particle in terms of π (pie).
8. The mass of a bicycle and its rider is 100kg and he wants to take a turn of radius
80m with speed of 20m/s. If the coefficient of friction between the tyres and the
road is µ = 0.6 then calculate the angle with which he must lean in order to negotiate
the turn safely. Will the rider then cross over the turn?

GRAVITATION
Kepler’s Laws
(i) The planets describe ellipses about the sun as one focus.
(ii) The line joining the sun and the planet sweeps out equal areas in equal times.
(iii) The squares of the periods of revolution of the planets are proportional to the
cubes of their mean distances from the sun.

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Newton's law of universal gravitation
It states that every particle in the universe attracts every other with a force which is
proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of
their separation i.e. F = (G m1m2)/r2. Where F is the gravitational force of attraction
between two bodies whose masses are m1 and m2 and whose centres are a distance r apart
and G is the universal gravitational constant (= 6.67 x 10-11 Nm2kg-2).

To show that Kepler's 3rd law is consistent with F = (G m1m2)/r2

Consider the motion of a planet moving in a circle round the sun S as centre. The force
acting on the planet of mass m is mrω2, where r is the radius of the circle and ω is the
angular velocity of the motion.

Since ω = 2π/T, where T is the period of the motion, force on planet = mr(2π/T)2
=(4π2mr)/T2. This is equal to the force of attraction of the sun on the planet. Assuming
an inverse square law, then (if k is a constant), force on planet = km/r2. Therefore
km/r2=(4π2mr)/T2, ⇒ T2 = (4π2/k) r3. Hence T2 ∝ r3. Since k = Gms and π are constants.

The moon’s motions round the earth.

The moon has a period of T ≅ 27.3 days and the force on it = mRω2 where R is the
Radius of the moons orbit and m is its mass. Therefore force = mR(2π/T)2 = (4π2Mr)/ T.2
If the moon were on earth’s surface, the force of attraction on it due to the earth would be
mg, where g is the acceleration due to gravity. Assuming that the force of attraction
varies as the inverse square of the distance between the earth and moon.
4π 2 R 3
(4π Mr)/ T : mg = 1/R : 1/r ⇒ g = 2 2 ≈ 9.8m/s2
2 2 2 2
r T
The force of attraction between two given particles is inversely proportional to the square
of their distance apart. The earth exerted the same type of force on the moon as the sun
did on the planets.

Mass of Earth
If a body of mass m is at the surface of the earth, the force acting on the body is its
weight mg. This same force is given by the law of universal gravitation as (Gmme)/re2
where me and re are the mass and radius of the earth respectively. Therefore (Gmme)/re2 =
mg. ⇒ me = re2g/G.

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Density of Earth
Density is the ratio of mass to volume of a given body. Volume (V) = (4πre3)/3 . ⇒ ρe =
(re2gx 3)/4Gπre3 = 3g/(4πreG). Hence ρ e ∝ 1/re. The density of the earth varies with the
depth but is largely independent of direction.

Outside The Earth (r > re)

The acceleration due to gravity at the surface of the earth is given by rearranging the
equation as g = G me/re2. The acceleration due to gravity at a point outside the earth has the
value it would have if the entire mass of the earth were at its centre. Therefore by analogy
with the above equation, the acceleration due to gravity g′ at a distance r from the centre of
the earth when r>re is given by g′ = Gme/r2. Dividing the equations gives g′ = (re2g)/r2.

Inside the Earth (r < re)

Similarly acceleration due to gravity at a point inside the earth that is a distance r from the
centre of the earth is due only to the sphere of radius r. Hence g′ = Gm/r2, where m = mass
of sphere. The earth is assumed to have uniform density. Therefore m = (4πr3g)/3 and me =
(4πre3g)/3 and hence m/me = r3/re3. Substituting in g′ = Gm/r2 we get g′ = Gmer/re3. But g =
Gme/re2, therefore g′ = rg/re. Note that this equation reduces to g′ = g at r = re

Assumption: density is uniform.

Escape Velocity
This is the minimum velocity that makes a body of mass m escape the earth’s
2Gme
gravitational force. It is given by ½mv2 = (Gmme)/r; v = ≈ 11 km/s
re
This is for bodies, which are not being driven, and so relies on the initial kinetic energy to
overcome the earth’s gravitational attraction. The escape velocity does not depend on the
direction of projection.

HAVE YOU READ & UNDERSTOOD

• Kepler's laws of planetary motion?
• Newton's laws of gravitation?
• Moon's motion around the earth?
• Mass & density of the earth?
• Mass and density of the sun? 38
• Orbits round the earth?
• Parking orbits?
• Variation of go inside and outside the earth?
 SUMMARY OF KEY EXPRESSIONS.
• F = (G m1m2)/r2
• me = re2g/G
• ρe = (re2gx 3)/4Gπre3 = 3g/(4πreG
• g′ = (re2g)/r2
• g′ = rg/re
2Gme
• v= ≈ 11 km/s
re

PROBLEMS
1. State Newton's law of gravitation. If the acceleration due to gravity gm, at the
moon's surface is 1.70ms-2 and its radius is 1.74 x 106m, calculate the mass of the
moon. When a signal rocket is fired on earth, it will reach a height of 200m. if an
identical one is fired on the moon, calculate the height which it will reach.
2. The radius of the earth is approximately 6000km. What will be the weight of an
object, M kg, placed at 6000km above the earth's surface?
3. When a clock controlled by a pendulum (Grandfather clock) is taken from sea-level
to a mountain, it becomes slow while a wristwatch controlled by a spring remains
unaffected. Explain.
4. The weight of a person on earth is 600N. The gravitational field of the moon is 1/6th
of the gravitational field of the earth. What will be the weight of the person on the
moon? If the person can jump 2m high on the earth, how high will he jump on the
moon? What is the mass of the person on the earth and moon respectively?
5. If the radius of the earth be 6.37 x 106m and the acceleration due to gravity 9.81
m/s2, then calculate the mass and the density of the earth.
6. An artificial satellite travels in a circular orbit round the earth. Explain why its
speed will have to be greater for an orbit of small radius than for one of large radius.
7. From the fact that the moon orbits the earth in about 28 days, estimate the distance
of the moon from the earth's surface (re = 6.4 x 106m).
8. An earth satellite of mass 20kg is in a circular orbit at a height small compared to the
radius of the earth. If air resistance causes its total energy to decrease by 10kJ per
revolution, what is the fractional change in its speed per revolution? Does the speed
increase or decrease?

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