BUMAYONG LUTHERAN SECONDARY SCHOOL
SCIENCE DEPARTMENT
GRADE 11 PHYSICS
CIRCULAR MOTION
Circular motion is when an object moves in a circular path. Rotational motion is the circular motion of an object
about an axis of rotation. Spin is rotation about an axis that goes through the center of mass of the object, such
as Earth rotating on its axis, a wheel turning on its axle, or the spin of a tornado on its path of destruction.
Angle of Rotation,
This is the angular equivalence of distance; or it can be called angular displacement. The angle of rotation is the
amount of rotation and is the angular analog of distance.
Symbol:
The angle of rotation is the arc length divided by radius of curvature, i.e;
It is measured using a unit called the radian. ‘Radian’ is the abbreviation of ‘radial angle.’
To convert to radian measure,
To convert from degrees to radians, we multiply by
To convert from radians to degrees, we multiply by
This angle, , is actually an angular displacement and s is the corresponding displacement along the circular arc.
Arc Length
Arc length is the distance travelled along a circular path. The arc length is .
Arc length in radian,
Arc length in degrees,
If arc length is equal to circumference of the circle, then, .
If arc length is equal to the radius of a circle, then,
One Revolution
is one complete rotation
has or . That is:
has an arc length that is the same as the circumference of the circle
Angular Velocity
Angular velocity (ω) is the angular version of linear velocity v. It is the angular equivalence of linear velocity.
... angular rotation per time. This means if an object rotates through greater angle of rotation in a given
time, it has a greater angular speed.
The unit is radian per second
A larger angular velocity for the tire means a greater linear velocity for the car.
If an object rotates through a greater angle of rotation in a given time, it has a greater angular speed.
Angular Acceleration
If the angular velocity of a body is change, the body has an angular acceleration .
Therefore, angular acceleration is the rate of change of the angular velocity.
The unit of angular acceleration is the radian per second per second, or radian per second squared ( / ).
Equations of Circular Motion Analogous to Linear Motion Equation
Angular Motion Linear Motion
NB: These equations are same but the symbols used make them differ a little.
Examples
1. The clock on a clock tower has a radius of 1.0 m.
(a) What angle of rotation does the hour hand of the clock travel through when it moves from 12 p.m. to 3
p.m.?
(b) What’s the arc length along the outermost edge of the clock between the hour hand at these two times?
Solution
(a) In going from 12 to 3, the hour hand covers 1/4 of the 12 hours needed to make a complete revolution.
Therefore, the angle between the hour hand at 12 and at 3 is (i.e., 90 degrees).
(b) ( )
2. In the diagram, when the arc length equals the radius of the circle, calculate the angle .
Solution
(a)
3. A computer CD disk rotating from rest reaches in a time of minutes. Calculate its angular
acceleration in radians per second squared .
i.
ii. … .
Exercises.
1. An antivirus CD of radius rotates in a laptop computer to scan for virus and rotates from zero to
degree in .
(i) Calculate its velocity.
(ii) How many revolutions will the CD make in ?
