Circular Motion

a) Convert the following angles to radians: 30 degrees, 45 degrees, 90 degrees, 150 degrees,
180 degrees, 360 degrees , 450 degrees

b) Convert the following angles in radians to degrees: 2π/3 , 1, 2, 2 π /5, 2 π /3, π /6

2. The radius of the Earth is 6.38 x 106 m. How far (path length) does a point on the equator
move if the Earth rotates...

a) 20 degrees

b) 20 radians

c) 20 revolutions
Assume:
Earth rotates exactly around N and S poles, Earth is perfect sphere, and do not count the
Earth's orbit around the sun.
3) What is the angular velocity (in rad s-1 )of
a) a flywheel rotating at 5000 rpm
b) the minute hand of a clock
c) the hour hand of a clock

4) A satellite in a geosynchronous orbit makes a complete revolution of the Earthn in 24 hours.

The radius of the orbit is 4.2 x 107 m.
Calculate: (a) the angular velocity
and (b) the linear speed of the satellite.

5) The average distance to the sun from the Earth is about 150,000,000km. As everybody
knows, the Earth rotates around the sun in one year along in a nearly circular orbit. Calculate
the speed of the Earth per second with respect to the Sun.

6) Explain, using Newton’s First law of motion, why an object travelling at constant speed in a
horizontal circle must have a force acting on it.

7) What is the acceleration of a car moving at constant speed of 12 m s-1 in a horizontal circle of
radius 20 m?

8) What is the acceleration of a car moving at constant speed of 40 m s-1 in a horizontal circle of
radius 60 m?

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9) A pendulum bob of mass 0.050 kg is twirled in a horizontal circle of radius 50 cm . If the
speed of the bob is 5 m s-1, calculate the resultant force acting on the bob.

10) An object of mass 0.25 kg is tied to the end of a piece of string and moves in a horizontal
circle. If the radius of the circle is 1.5 m, calculate the tension in the string when it moves
with a constant speed of 3 m s-1?

11) An object of mass 100 g is tied to the end of a piece of string and moves in a horizontal
circle. If the radius of the circle is 75 cm, calculate the tension in the string when it moves
with a constant angular speed of 3 rad s-1?

12) An object of mass 50 g is tied to the end of a piece of string and moves in a horizontal circle.
If the radius of the circle is 15 cm, calculate the tension in the string when it moves with a
constant speed of 20 cm s-1?

13) An object of mass 10 kg is tied to the end of a piece of string and moves in a horizontal
circle. If the radius of the circle is 125 cm, calculate the tension in the string when it moves
with a constant angular speed of 0.45 rad s-1?

14) Calculate the linear speed of a particle of mass 2.50 kg, when a horizontal force of 100 N
acts on it, directed towards the centre of a circle of radius 1.00 m.

15) Calculate the angular speed of a particle of mass 200 g, when a horizontal force of 12 N acts
on it, directed towards the centre of a circle of radius 20 cm.

16) Calculate the radius of the circle that a particle of mass 400 g and moving with a linear speed
of 20 cm s-1 will follow when a force of 200 N is applied to it always at 90 degrees to the
direction of its motion.

17) Calculate the radius of the circle that a particle of mass 3.2 kg and moving with an angular
speed of 2.4 rad s-1 will follow when a force of 20 N is applied to it always at 90 degrees to
the direction of its motion

18) A pendulum bob is hung from a piece of string and is whirled in a horizontal circle at a
constant speed.
a) Explain why the string cannot be horizontal.
b) Draw a free body diagram of the bob, marking on it the two forces that act on it.

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19) An object of mass 0.25 kg is tied to the end of a piece of string and moves in a horizontal
circle. If the length of the string is 1.5 m, calculate the tension in the string when it moves
with a constant speed of 3 m s-1?

19)
20)

A frictionless rollercoaster does a vertical loop with a radius

of 6.0m. The only force acting on the rollercoaster at the top
of the loop is that of gravity.
What is the minimum speed that the roller coaster must have
at the top of the loop so that it stays in touch with the rail? (g =
9.8 m s-2)

21)
a.
With what angular speed ω must 'm' with a radius
'r' rotate on a frictionless table so that 'M' doesn't
move?
b. If m=1.0kg, M=10.0kg, and r=0.5m, what is ω?

22)

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 The diagram shows a conical pendulum. The object with mass,
m, rotates in a horizontal circle with radius, r. The angle between
the vertical and the string is θ.
a) Draw a diagram that shows the two forces acting on the
object.
b) On the same diagram use the rule for vector addition to
show the size and direction of the resultant force.
c) From (b) write down an expression using Pythagoras’
theorem between the two forces and their resultant.
d) Using the fact that the resultant force, F = mv2/r. Write
down an expression for tan θ in terms of m,v, r and g.
e) Calculate the angular speed (ω) when the object has a
mass of 1.00 kg, length of string of 2m and angle (θ) of
30o when the acceleration due to gravity is 9.8 m s-1.

23)
A tetherball is swinging in a horizontal circle around a pole
attached with a 1.2m long massless rope. It makes an angle
of 40 degrees with the pole. With what velocity is the ball
moving?

24) This question also requires you to use the equations of linear motion.
An athlete launched the hammer a distance of 84.0 m
horizontally. The hammer is thrown by rotating the body in a
circle, building up rotational speed until releasing it and letting
the hammer follow a linear motion at a tangent to the circle.

The hammer is attached to the end of a 1.21m long wire and with
the thrower’s arms makes for a radius of rotation of 2.00 meters.

a) Using your knowledge of linear motion in 2-dimensions

calculate the initial linear speed , U, of the hammer for it
to travel the recorded distance of 84.0 m. In your
calculation assume that the angle the hammer was
released from was 35 degree above the horizontal and
that the acceleration due to gravity is 9.8 m s-2.
b) What was the angular speed of the thrower when he
released the hammer?
c) What was the tension in the wire of the hammer at the

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 moment of release if the mass of the hammer is 7.26 kg.
d) Would the hammer have travelled further if he had
released it at 45 degrees?
25)
A car is moving around a corner with a banked track, as shown
in the diagram.
a) If friction is negligible what is responsible for the resultant
centripetal force?
b) What is the required angle of the banking if the car’s speed is
20 m s-1 and the radius of curvature is 30 m?

26)
An aircraft is banking as it turns as shown in the diagram. What
is the radius of curvature of the the turn if the aircraft’s velocity
is 180 m s-1 and it is banked at 35o?