Circular Motion Experiment

What’s the experiment about?

In this experiment, an object in uniform circular motion moves at a constant speed by a force
directed towards the centre of the circle which is the centripetal force.
Aim: To investigate the relationship between mass of weights and time taken for 1 oscillation
Hypothesis: The mass of weights is inversely proportional to the time taken for 1 oscillation
The greater the mass, the shorter span of time taken for 1 oscillation of orbiting the rubber
stopper.
Manipulated Variable: Mass of weight
Responding Variable: Time taken for N oscillation of orbiting the rubber stopper
Constant Variable:
 Type of string
 Mass of rubber stopper
 Length of string
Apparatus:
 Meter ruler
 Plastic handle
 Weights
 Weight hanger
 Crocodile clip
 String
 Stop watch
 Rubber stopper
Weight Rubber
hanger String stopper
Setup: Scissors

Plastic
Rubber handle
stopper

Crocodile Weights
clip
PROCEDURE:
1. Through the hole of the rubber stopper, the string will be threaded through and the
string should be tied on itself.

2. The free end of the string should be threaded through the handle. The thread length
between the rubber stopper and handle should be around one metre.

3. The free end of the thread should be held by one hand and the other hand should hold
the handle. Slowly spin the rubber stopper in a horizontal circle above the head.

4. Make sure to swing at constant speed with rubber stopper and release some thread out
so that the circle’s radius will be increased.

5. After that, the string should be returned to its initial position (one-meter length). A
crocodile clip should be placed below the handle and over the thread. A loop should
be tied at the free end of the thread. Place the weight hanger on the loop and a weight
can be put on the weight hanger.

6. Then, begin to slowly spin the rubber stopper above the head. Till the crocodile clip is
underneath the plastic handle, the speed of rotation should be increasing.

7. Stopwatch should be used to measure the time taken for 20 oscillations

8. Using different weights, the steps 1-7 will be repeated.

9. Create a table using the results of the experiment and construct a graph along.

Safety measures:
 All persons involved must wear safety googles
 Make sure nobody is near when the apparatus is swinging to ensure it hit them
 Check whether the materials are working before starting the experiment.
 There should be staff/teacher present in the lab when conducting the experiment

Table:
M/g Time taken, t for 20 oscillations Time taken,t 1
∕ s−2
for 1 T 2

oscillation,t/
s
1 2 3 Average
10 13.22 12.10 12.17 12.50 0.63 2.52
20 12.13 11.39 11.58 11.70 0.59 2.87
30 11.02 10.56 10.92 10.83 0.54 3.43
40 9.01 8.90 9.27 9.06 0.45 4.94
50 8.43 8.51 8.04 8.33 0.42 5.67
60 7.40 8.67 8.50 8.19 0.41 5.95
Data Analysis:
Rubber stopper’s mass=12.44g , Radius(r) = 0.4m , Gravity (g)=9.8ms -2
g
=gradient
4 Π 2 rm
g
=4 π 2 rm
gradient
g
2 =m
4 π r ( gradient )
9 ⋅8
m= 2
4 Π r ( gradient )
9.8
m= 2
4 Π ( 0 ⋅4 )( 77 )

m=8.059 X 10-3kg

m=8.06g

Coordinates for gradient: (60, 5.95), (20, 2.87

2.87−5.95
m= 0.02−0.06

= 77

Using the information above, the % Error is calculated to see how close the experimental
value is to the actual value.
experimental value−actual value
% Error= x 100
actual value

8.06−12.44
= x 100
12.44

=35.21%
Background theory:
In this experiment, the centripetal force is caused by gravitational force and is always toward
mv 2
the center of the circle. Centripetal force is calculated using the formula F c = where
r
1 Mg
m=mass, v=velocity and r=radius. The equation for the experiment is 2 = which is
T 4 π 2 rm
1 Mg
formed from 2 = 2 x M using Newton’s second law of motion F=ma and v= distance
T 4 π rm time
The formula for centripetal force:
Evaluation and Error Discussion:
The collected data shows that the hypothesis is proven as there is a positive correlation
1 −2
between the mass and 2 / s in the graph. The average time taken for 1 oscillation of orbiting
T
the rubber stopper decreases as mass increases. The calculation above are shown to compare
the accuracy and precision of the experiment conducted. The precision of the experiment is
high as the scattered points are near to the drawn best fit line. Experiment was repeated 3
times to reduce the random error. Thus, this indicates that there’s possibilities of random
errors slightly affecting the results. The number of rotations affects the random where a
greater number of rotations will result in smaller effect of random errors. Reaction time of
human at starting and stopping the stopwatch could act as a random error. Another possible
error could have caused by the person who spins the apparatus may have gotten tired or
different people spins the apparatus thus varying in different speeds which alters the time
taken for 20 oscillations. Maintaining the same radius while spinning the rubber stopper for
the whole experiment was a difficult task.

As shown above, the percentage error is 35.21% which is high and the graph doesn’t pass
through the origin thus proving that the experiment’s accuracy is low though the graph is
directly proportional. There are possible systematic errors affecting the accuracy despite
following the procedure. Accuracy of the experiment is related with systematic errors.
Systematic error could be caused by the elasticity of the string. The string used could have
gotten thinner and weaker by the force applied on it which could affect the radius and may
not be constant throughout. Another factor could have an additional force acting on the
experiment such as air resistance as there’s collisions of the object with the air molecules and
the experiment was conducted in air-conditioned lab. This may affect with the speed of
oscillation of the rubber stopper. Another possible systematic error could have been the
variable string thickness. During the experiment, string thickness could have become thinner
due to the contact between the plastic handle and string. The reliability of the experiment
cannot be said as different people conducted with different hypothesis. The evaluation of
experiment concludes that despite all the errors which could have affected the data, the
hypothesis of the experiment is still proven.
Conclusion:
In order for an object to maintain a uniform circular motion (motion in a circle at a constant
speed), there should be a centripetal force acting on the object. The direction of an object can
be only change with presence of centripetal force.

Relating to this experiment, the time taken for 1 oscillation decreases as the mass increases.
As the mass increases, the centripetal force also tends to increase so that the rotation of the
rubber stopper occurs in a uniform circular motion thus the speed of rotation increases. e.
Speed of the rotation could not have been the same throughout the whole experiment as there
might be a change in person or may gotten tired thus increasing effect of random error.. The
experiment was repeated three times for each weight to be more accurate. Overall, the
experiment was fairly conducted and the hypothesis of the experiment is proven though the
accuracy is distorted as there were potential systematic errors disturbing the results as
mentioned above.