MYP Physics Circular Motion Mathematical Formulas Notes Name: __________________

1. Concepts of circles
Things you should already know or about to know.

The _______________ of a circle is a measurement of the full arc length of a circle or simply the

perimeter of a circle. To calculate the circumference of a circle, you would use the formula

________________ or ________________ where 𝑟 is the radius of the circle and 𝑑is the

diameter of the circle. (use 3.14 for pie)

2. Time, Period

The time _______________________________________________________________________

A student is spinning a ball attached to a string and it

______________________________________________

or

______________________________________________

3. Frequency
Frequency is ____________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________.

A student is spinning a ball attached to a string and it takes 0.75 seconds for
the ball to complete one revolution. How frequent did the ball travel
around the circle?

To answer this, we want to set it up so that the number of revolutions per

Therefore, the frequency is

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________
4. Relationship between period and frequency

Period is _______________________________________________________________________
And
Frequency is ____________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________.

Units:
The unit for period is __________________.

The unit for frequency is ________________________. (___________)

We can see that period is ________________________________________________________.

________________ and ________________

5. Circular motion linear speed

To calculate how fast you are moving as you go around a circle, we still use our linear speed
equation

of __________________ where d is the distance and t is the time.

For a circle, the distance is the circumference of the circle___________________ and

the time is the ________________ of the object.

Therefore, linear speed: _________________________________________________.

6. Centripetal acceleration and centripetal force

The derivation for centripetal acceleration is beyond this course, therefore we are going to just
used it rather than understand how to derive it.

Centripetal acceleration formula is ________________________________

From Newton’s 2nd Laws of Motion, _______________________

We have the centripetal force _______________________________

Linear speed: __________________________

Centripetal acceleration: __________________________

subbing in ___________for 𝒗 we could rewrite the equation into

𝒂𝒄 = ____________________________________________________________________________________

Centripetal force: _____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

8. Practice Problems
1. Timmy twirls a tennis ball (mass = 0.06 kg) attached to a rope (length = 1m) in a horizontal
circle above his head. It completes one revolution is 0.5 seconds. Determine the linear speed of
the ball.

2. A cyclist turns a corner with a radius of 50m at a speed of 10m/s.

b. If the cyclist and cycle have a combined mass of 120kg, what is the force causing them to
turn?

3. A 14000N car traveling at 25m/s rounds a curve of radius 200m. Find the following:
a. The centripetal acceleration of the car.

b. The force that maintains centripetal acceleration.

c. The minimum coefficient of static friction between the tires and road that will allow the car to
round the curve safely.
MYP Physics Circular Practice Problems

1. During their physics field trip to the amusement park, Tyler and Maria took a rider on the Whirligig.
The Whirligig ride consists of long swings which spin in a circle at relatively high speeds. As part of their
lab, Tyler and Maria estimate that the riders travel through a circle with a radius of 6.5 m and make one
turn every 5.8 seconds. Determine the speed of the riders on the Whirligig.

2. During the spin cycle of a washing machine, the clothes stick to the outer wall of the barrel as it spins
at a rate as high as 1800 revolutions per minute. The radius of the barrel is 26 cm.

a. Determine the speed of the clothes (in m/s) which are located on the wall of the spin.

b. Determine the acceleration of the clothes.

3. Elmira, New York boasts of having the fastest carousel ride in the world. The merry-go-round at
Eldridge Park takes riders on a spin at 8.0 m/s. The radius of the circle about which the outside riders
move is approximately 7.4 m.

a. Determine the time for outside riders to make one complete circle.

b. Determine the acceleration of the riders.

a. If spinning at this rate, what is the speed of the outer row of data on the disc; this row is located 5.6
cm from the center of the disc?

b. What is the acceleration of the outer row of data?

5. In the display window of the toy store at the local mall, a battery-powered plane is suspended from a
string and flying in a horizontal circle. The 631-gram plane makes a complete circle every 2.15 seconds.
The radius of the circle is 0.950 m. Determine the velocity of, acceleration of, and net force acting upon
the plane.

6. Dominic is the star discus thrower on South's varsity track and field team. In last year's regional
competition, Dominic whirled the 1.6 kg discus in a circle with a radius of 1.1 m, ultimately reaching a
speed of 52 m/s before launch. Determine the net force acting upon the discus in the moments before
launch.

7. Justin is driving his 1500-kg Camaro through a horizontal curve on a level roadway at a speed of 23
m/s. The turning radius of the curve is 65 m. Determine the minimum value of the coefficient of friction
which would be required to keep Justin's car on the curve.