xu (mx897) – Circular Motion – schorn – (APCSchorn)
This print-out should have 21 questions.
Multiple-choice questions may continue on
the next column or page – find all choices
before answering.
We’ll count this as an SPSA. Written work
is Moiiiaaaa and due on the 21
001 10.0 points
To test the performance of its tires, a car
travels along a perfectly flat (no banking) cir-
cular track of radius 216 m. The car increases
its speed at uniform rate of
d |v|
at ≡ = 2.81 m/s2
dt
until the tires start to skid.
If the tires start to skid when the car reaches
a speed of 25.6 m/s, what is the coefficient of
static friction between the tires and the road?
The acceleration of gravity is 9.8 m/s2 .
002 10.0 points
A car initially travels north and then turns to
the left along a circular curve. This causes a
package on the seat of the car to slide toward
the right side of the car.
Which of the following is true about the net
force on the package while it is sliding?
1. There is not enough force directed north
to keep the package from sliding.
2. The force is directed away from the center
of the circle.
3. There is not enough force directed toward
the center of the circle to keep the package
from sliding.
4. The force is directed north.
5. There is not enough force tangential to the
car’s path to keep the package from sliding.
003 (part 1 of 3) 10.0 points
A student builds and calibrates an accelerom-
eter, which she uses to determine the speed of
her car around a certain highway curve. The
accelerometer is a plumb bob with a protrac-
tor that she attaches to the roof of her car.
1
A friend riding in the car with her observes
that the plumb bob hangs at an angle of 10◦
from the vertical when the car has a speed of
35.2 m/s.
At this instant, what is the centripetal ac-
celeration of the car rounding the curve? The
acceleration of gravity is 9.8 m/s2 .
Answer in units of m/s2 .
004 (part 2 of 3) 10.0 points
What is the radius of the curve?
Answer in units of m.
005 (part 3 of 3) 10.0 points
What is the speed of the car if the plumb
bob’s deflection is 6.5 ◦ while rounding the
same curve?
Answer in units of m/s.
006 10.0 points
A curve of radius 54 m is banked so that a
car of mass 1.9 Mg traveling with uniform
speed 57 km/hr can round the curve without
relying on friction to keep it from slipping on
the surface.
Mg
1. 9
0
µ≈
θ
At what angle is the curve banked? The
acceleration due to gravity is 9.8 m/s2 .
Answer in units of deg.
007 10.0 points
A 2315 kg car rounds a circular turn of radius
26 m. The road is flat and the coefficient of
friction between tires and road is 0.31.
The acceleration of gravity is 9.8 m/s2 .
How fast can the car go without skidding?
Answer in units of m/s.
008 10.0 points
 xu (mx897) – Circular Motion – schorn – (APCSchorn) 2
A steel ball is attached to a string and is tween a rider’s clothing and the wall of the
swung in a horizontal circular path as illus- cylinder is needed to keep the rider from
trated in the figure. At point P , the string slipping? The acceleration due to gravity
suddenly breaks near the ball. is 9.8 m/s2 .
A
B 010 10.0 points
C A child’s toy consists of a small wedge that
D has an acute angle of 29 ◦ . The sloping side
E of the wedge is frictionless, and the wedge is
spun at a constant speed by rotating a rod
that is firmly attached to it at one end.

g
If these events are observed from directly cm 41
28
above, which path would the ball most closely 0
follow after the string breaks? µ= 29◦

1. (A)

2. (B)

3. (E)
When the mass of 41 g rises up the wedge
4. (D) a distance 28 cm and stays there, what is the
speed of the mass? The acceleration of gravity
5. (C) is 9.8 m/s2 .
Answer in units of m/s.
009 10.0 points
In a popular amusement park ride, a rotat- 011 10.0 points
ing cylinder of radius 3.05 m is set in rotation The tether ball shown below hangs on a string
at an angular speed of 4.19 rad/s, as shown. of length ℓ = 1.5 m and has a mass m =
The floor then drops away, leaving the rid- 0.5 kg. the ball is given a punch such that it
ers suspended against the wall in a vertical will move in a circular orbit about the central
position. shaft with constant speed v in the horizontal
plane. What must the speed v be so that,
after the ball is moving around the shaft in
3.05 m a circle, the string holds it an angle θ = 60◦
with respect to the vertical, as shown on the
side view below? As seen from above, the
tether ball is just moving in a circle.

What minimum coefficient of friction be-

 xu (mx897) – Circular Motion – schorn – (APCSchorn) 3
of the string.
v m1

side view
top view r
θ

⃗v m2

⃗v
Determine an expression for r in terms of
m1 , m2 , and the period T (the time for one
The required speed v is closest to... revolution).

1. 18.8 m/s m2 g T 2
1. r =
4π 2 m1
2. 9.4 m/s m1 g T 2
2. r =
2π 2 m2
3. 13.2 m/s m2 g T 2
3. r =
2π 2 m1
4. 4.7 m/s
m1 g T 2
4. r =
5. 6.6 m/s 4π 2 m2
m2 g T 2
012 (part 1 of 2) 10.0 points 5. r =
π 2 m1
A model airplane of mass 0.4 kg is attached
to a horizontal string and flies in a horizontal 015 10.0 points
circle of radius 5.3 m, making 1.6 revolutions A copper block rests 43 cm from the center of
every 5 s. (The weight of the plane is balanced a steel turntable. The coefficient of static fric-
by the upward “lift” force of the air on the tion between block and surface is 0.494. The
wings of the plane.) turntable starts from rest and rotates with a
The accelaration due to the gravity is 9.81 constant angular acceleration of 0.241 rad/s2 .
m/s2 . The acceleration of gravity is 9.8 m/s2 .
Find the speed of the plane. After what interval will the block start to
Answer in units of m/s. slip on the turntable?[ Hint: Ignore the tan-
gential component of the acceleration.]
013 (part 2 of 2) 10.0 points Answer in units of s.
Find the tension in the string.
Answer in units of N. 016 10.0 points
A passenger is sitting in a car without
014 10.0 points bucket seats or seat belts. Without increas-
Mass m1 moves in a circular path of radius ing or decreasing its speed, the car makes an
r on a frictionless horizontal table. It is at- abrupt left turn, and the passenger finds him-
tached to a string that passes through a fric- self sliding across his half of the single front
tionless hole in the center of the table. A seat and colliding with the right-hand door,
second mass m2 is attached to the other end where he remains during the turn.
Which statement analyzes this situation
 xu (mx897) – Circular Motion – schorn – (APCSchorn)
correctly, based on Newton’s second law?
1. During and after the collision with the
door, a force acts on the passenger to the left,
as the car turns.
2. The swerve produces a centrifugal force
that throws the passenger against the door.
3. Before and after the collision with the
door, a force acts on the passenger to the
right, as the car turns.
4. The net force on the passenger is zero at
all times, before and after the collision.
017 10.0 points
An airplane in a wide “outside” loop can cre-
ate an apparent zero weight inside the aircraft
cabin.
What must be the radius of curvature of the
flight path for an aircraft moving at 530 km/h
to create a condition of weightlessness inside
the aircraft? Assume the acceleration of grav-
ity is 9.8 m/s2 .
Answer in units of m.
4
B
11 m
14.1 m
A
Note: Figure is not drawn to scale.
a) If at point A the track exerts a force on
the car that is 2.26 × 104 N greater than the
car’s weight, what is the mass of the car?
Answer in units of kg.
020 (part 2 of 2) 10.0 points
b) What is the maximum speed the car can
have at point B for the gravitational force to
hold it on the track?
Answer in units of m/s.
021 10.0 points
A train is moving along a circular track with
r = 100 m. At A, v = ∥⃗v∥ = 10 m/s. It
is slowing down with a tangential decelera-
tion of magnitude atangential = ∥⃗atangential ∥ =
1 m/s2 . Sketch ⃗atotal at A.

018 10.0 points

A 23 kg child sits in a swing supported by two
chains, each 3.9 m long. v
The acceleration of gravity is 9.8 m/s2 . II I
If the tension in each chain at the lowest O A
point is 203 N, find the child’s speed at the r
lowest point. III IV
Note: Neglect the mass of the seat. Quadrants
Answer in units of m/s.
Which quadrant should it be in?
019 (part 1 of 2) 10.0 points
A roller-coaster car speeds down a hill past 1. III
point A and then rolls up a hill past point B,
as shown in the figure. The car has a speed of 2. IV
10.6 m/s at point A.
The acceleration of gravity is 9.81 m/s2 . 3. II

4. I