Circular Motion

Centripetal force – the resultant force that acts towards the centre of a circle. Keeps the
object in circular motion, constantly accelerating towards the centre.

Force against Velocity2

0.6
y = 0.16x
R² = 0.9987
0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5

The mass of the bung was 0.04kg.

The radius between the tube and the bung was 0.25m.
𝑚𝑣 2
As 𝐹 = , and we have plotted a graph of F against v2, the gradient should equal mass
𝑟
over radius, which can be calculated to be 0.04/0.25 = 0.16.
This is equal to the gradient of the line of best fit of the plotted data, therefore, the equation has
been proved to be correct.

There were uncertainties due to several factors. Firstly, the swinging bung was not entirely
perpendicular to the floor, therefore the radius was actually smaller than the value used. However,
these were small angles, so their effect is minimal. In addition, despite measuring the speed over
twenty revolutions, there was significant human error in determining the exact time that the bung
completed twenty revolutions, however, this should not have effected the gradient as it was a line of
best fit for 5 measurements.