Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Centripetal Force
CENTRIPETAL FORCE
Centripetal
An object traveling in a
circle, even though it moves
with a constant speed, will
have an acceleration (since
velocity changes direction)
This acceleration is called
centripetal (centerseeking).
The acceleration is directed
toward the center of the
circle of motion
v r , since
v
r
r
v
a
t
v r
a
r t
Thus:
v2
aC
r
or aC 2 r
CENTRIPETAL FORCE
Net inward force to provide centripetal
acceleration
Due to contact and/or gravitational forces
F
F
F
F
Direction:
towards the center
SOME EXAMPLES
For an object sitting on a rotating turntable, the
centripetal force is friction.
For a rock whirled on the end of a string, the
centripetal force is the force of tension in the string.
Example
Example a:
Given:
String length: L
radius: r
Find:
1.
v=?
T cos v 2
v2
T sin
T sin m
g r
r
rgT sin
v2
T cos
rg (tan v
Newtons Law of
Gravitation
2.
3.
Consider collision of
two spheres
F12 may be called the
action force and F21 the
reaction force
m1m 2
F G 2
r
This
Gravitation Constant
Determined experimentally
Henry Cavendish
1798
GRAVITATION
JUMBO JUMBO
Ans.3.56 x1028 N
r ~ RE
Gme m1
Fg
m1 g
2
re
GM E m1
m1 g
RE 2
2
E
gR
ME
G
Assumption:
RE + h RE
Gravitational Acceleration
Assumption:
Re + h Re
re
Fg
Gme m
re
mg
me
Fg
Gme m
re
g
mg
Gme
re
mM E
ME
F G 2 mG 2
r
r
mg
ME
g G 2
r
Thus:
Weight
Weight
Gme m
re
v2
ma m
r
Gme
v
r
Escape Speed
vesc
2GM E
RE
Example
Question: Calculate gravitational attraction between two
students 1 meter apart. Assume the student 1 has a mass of
70 kg while the other one has a mass of 90 kg.
2
m1m2
N
m
70kg 90kg
11
F G
6.67 10
2
2
r
kg 2
1 m
F 4.2 10 N
Extremely small
compared to the
weight (F = mg).