Circular motion lab

Intro

The purpose of the lab was to determine the mass of a rubber stopper. The lab involves uniform
circular motion. Circular motion refers to an object moving in a circular path around a fixed
point. This motion can be seen in whirligigs which can spin. An object experiencing uniform
circular motion is moving in a circle and therefore is constantly experiencing a change in
direction meaning a change in velocity (due to it being a vector quantity) over a change in time
as shown in A11. A change in velocity means the object is experiencing a centripetal
acceleration1. Diagrams A1 and A3 show triangles similar triangles ABC and DEF. In A1 a force
is applied for the object to go in a circle. A3 shows a triangle formed from the 2 velocity vectors
from A1 and A2 shows that the angle in A3 is the same angle as A1. Since the triangles are
similar, r2 = r1=r, and v1 = v2=v, fraction comparisons can be set up, FE/DE = BC/BA. BC = ∆r
and in this situation the angle is small so the difference between ∆s (arc length) and ∆r therefore
is close to 0 therefore ∆r = ∆s2. The fraction comparison can be substituted with the variables the
sides stand for and can be replaced with ∆v/v = ∆s/r. The equation then can be rearranged, ∆v =
(v(∆s))/r, then divide both sides by ∆t, ∆v/∆t = (v/r) (∆s/∆t). ∆v/∆t can be substituted with ac
(centripetal acceleration) and ∆s/∆t with v(velocity) leading to ac = v^2/r. The acceleration is
directed towards the center of the circle and according to newton’s second law since there is an
acceleration that means there is an unbalanced force which is the centripetal force3. The
centripetal force is the net force of all the forces acting on the object in circular motion. Newton
first law states that an object will continue moving along a straight path unless acted on by an
external force3. The external force is the centripetal force, and it must be directed towards the
center of the circle for the object to not stay in a straight line and instead experience circular
motion3.
 Diagrams A1, A2, and A3. A2
shows an extension of the vectors
to visually see the angles formed
Methods and Materials
A rubber stopper was spun in a circle and various weights were attached to the end of the string
used for spinning the stopper. This system is called a whirligig and was made by inserting the
string that had a stopper attached to it by a knot through a glass tube, measuring the length
between the stopper and the top end of the tube, placing an indicator at bottom of glass using
tape, and tying a weight at the end of the string.

Diagram showing how the whirligig looks

like

A glass tube was used to allow a person to spin the stopper at a constant speed without
interfering with the string, and see a small indicator placed at the end of the tube. The indicator
allows the spinner to check if the radius stays constant by staying in the same position in the
experiment. The string was used as it was lightweight and therefore it wouldn’t add additional
weight. Small weights were used to allow control over incrementing the weights in the trials.
The radius between the rubber stopper and the top of the glass tube was calculated to be 0.61m
and remained as a constant throughout the experiment. The other constants in the experiment
were the mass of rubber stopper, the constant tension in the string, no air resistance, the string’s
weight being negligible, a constant velocity when spinning, and a constant radius. Each weight
attached had 3 trials conducted to ensure precise results and for each trial the rubber was swung
for 5 periods to counteract human reaction time as it can be difficult to see and record the
duration of one period. Then the recorded value of the 5 periods was divided by 5 to get the
value of one period and the value of one period of each trial was then averaged. In table 2 each
of the masses in table 2 were converted to weight in newtons by using the formula Fg = mg and
the formula v = (2(pie)r)/T was used where T was the average period calculated previously, and r
was the radius found at the start of the experiment. The relationship was graphed by using
velocity and weight. The velocity was on the y axis as it was the dependant variable on the
weight since table 2 indicates that as the weight gets higher so does the velocity. The weight/Fg1
was placed on the x axis as it was the independent variable and changed throughout the
experiment.

(shows all the various weights attached to the string)

Table2
The deviation percentage are 3.7%, 2.5%, 7%, 9.8%, and 2.4% for each of the respective masses.
All the deviation precents are low therefore the data was precise and therefore likely reliable.
The relationship between the fg and the velocity wasn’t linear and thus the velocity was squared
to produce a linear relationship between fg and v2 as seen in graph1. Graph 1’s linear relationship
can be represented by the formula y = Mx +b and in this case the formula is y = 18.69x + 9.860
where 18.69 m/s^2/N is the slope as represented by the variable M.

Discussion

Diagram 1 shows forces

Diagram 2 is an overhead view of
acting on the system
centripetal motion
The mass2 is 32.64g.
Mass2, which is the rubber stopper undergoes uniform circular motion and therefore the rubber
stopper is experiencing a centripetal force in which Fc = m2ac. The centripetal force is the
unbalanced force acting towards the centre. In diagram 2 the force pointing towards the middle is
FT and it causing an acceleration meaning FT is the unbalanced force and therefore it is the
centripetal force. FT = Fc
Diagram 1 shows tension forces acting upon both masses. The force of tension is the same
throughout the system therefore the FT acting upon the stopper is equal to the FT acting upon the
weight. Therefore FT1 = FT2=FT. The weight in the experiment is stationary and therefore there is
no displacement on the object and that means that there is no acceleration. By newton’s second
law If there is no acceleration that means there isn’t an unbalanced force acting upon mass 1 and
therefore the forces must be balanced and equal. The forces being equal means that Fg1 = FT1.
Since FT=FT1 = FT2, and FT1 = Fg1 therefore Fg1 = FT. This means that the weight directly affects
the force of tension in the system.
Since FT = Fc and FT = Fg1 therefore Ft can be substituted by Fc resulting in Fc = Fg1. Since Fc=
m2ac, and the formula for ac is ac = v2/r substituting ac for v2/r, the formula Fc= m2(v2/r) can be
achieved. Then by substituting Fg1 for Fc it can be proven that Fg1 = m2(v2/r).
Graph 1 represents a linear relationship between v2 and weight which is Fg1. The relationship can
be represented by the form y = Mx +b and we can transform the formula Fg1 = m2(v2/r) to
represent the linear relationship seen in graph1. Since y=v2 and x =Fg1 the previously found
formula can be written as x = (m2/r) y where both r and m2 are constant values and m2 represents
the mass of the rubber mass. The equation can then be rearranged into y = (r/m2)x which is in the
form of y = Mx +b. The slope represented by M in this equation is r/m2 and the slope calculated
from graph1 is 18.69. If M = r/m2 and M = 18.69 then r/m2 = 18.69 and therefore m2 can be
calculated. If m2 is isolated for then it results in the following equation, m2= r/18.69 where r =
0.61 therefore m2 = 0.61/18.69 resulting in m2 = 32.64g.

A random error that likely affected data would be the inability to maintain or be able to know if a
constant speed is maintained. The experiment requires a human to swing the rubber stopper at a
constant speed. It is highly improbable for a human to swing the stopper at a constant speed as
the only way to know if the stopper is being swung at a constant is to see it being swung which
may be hard as minor changes in velocity may be unnoticed. The minor changes in velocity
could be caused by a slightly different in grip between every change of mass. This may explain
why in the trial involving 177.44g the deviation percent was comparatively higher than the other
masses even though the same procedure was conducted for each of the masses. The solution for
having a constant speed done by having a motor attached to the rod spinning it at a set speed. As
seen in diagram p1 the motor would be stationed on a table and as seen in p2 the motor would
move the tube in a circular motion allowing for the whirligig to work.

Diagram P1 shows a side view. Diagram P2 shows an

overhead view. Theoretical motor for whirligig. The long
end attached from the clamp to the motor is rotatable at
the motor end allowing for it to rotate.

A systematic error that likely affected the data was the fact that the radius used in the
calculations to find the rubber stopper was larger than the actual radius that was present when the
rubber stopper was swung. Diagram 1 shows the object spinning perpendicular to the glass tube,
however in actuality diagram 3 is what happened as it shows the effect of Fg2 on the rubber
stopper. When perpendicular to the tube, the stopper experiences the force Fg2 downwards and
therefore falls downward. As the stopper lowers, so does the string attached the stopper and
therefore FT would not be perpendicular to the tube and therefore it would be it an angle from
the top of the tube. The force of tension then could be split into its x and y components, where
FTY = FTsinθ. Therefore, at some angle, FTsinθ = Fg, meaning the forces would be vertically
balanced therefore the stopper wouldn’t move vertically. When balanced, the length from the
stopper to the center of the tube (the point at which the stopper revolves around) is shortened as
seen in diagram 3. Having a bigger radius then the actual radius leads to a larger mass than the
actual mass. The solution to this error would be to set up a bird’s eye view camera looking
directly down onto the whirligig. The camera would record the spinning and then measure the
actual radius by comparing the size of the radius when the stopper is perpendicular to the tube to
the size in the recorded video.

Diagram 3 shows forces acting on the system

References

1. Khan Academy. What is centripetal force.

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/physics/centripetal-force-and-
gravitation/centripetal-forces/a/what-is-centripetal-force (accessed on Jan 16, 2023)
2. Glenn Elert. Centripetal Force. https://physics.info/centripetal/ (accessed on Jan 16,
2023)
3. Physics Classroom. The Centripetal Force Requirement.
https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/circles/Lesson-1/The-Centripetal-Force-
Requirement (accessed on Jan 16, 2023)