NAME:Judah Farfan Date:1/11/2022 Lab#4

Title:Circular Motion

Aim:To determine relationship between centripetal force and radius of orbit

Apparatus:https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Physics-Interactives/Circular-and-
Satellite-Motion/Uniform-Circular-Motion/Uniform-Circular-Motion-Interactive

Diagram:

Method:
-After setting up the speed,radius and mass values as shown above,The net force
needed to keep the particle moving in a circle was noted
-Method was repeated and values for radius was changed 7 times for a total of 8
different radius readings and 8 different net force readings
-Readings were recorded into a Table
Table:

speed, mass,m/kg radius,r/m 1 1 Net force,F/N

, /m
radius r

20 10 10 0.100 400

20 10 18 0.056 222

20 10 24 0.041 167

20 10 28 0.035 143

20 10 32 0.031 125

20 10 40 0.025 100

20 10 46 0.022 87

20 10 50 0.020 80

Theory:Circular motion is the movement of an object along the circumference of a

circle or rotation along a circular path.A Body undergoing circular motion can have a
constant speed but not a constant acceleration,due to the constant change of direction
in the circular path.Circular motion is made possible by the centripetal force which is the
pulling feeling toward the centre of the circle,but is not a real force because it does no
mv 2
work on the object.The centripetal force is calculated from the formula,F= .
r
 1
Calculations:To find values for ,1 was divided by the radius values.
r
1
Eg =0.035
28

1
For the graph of Fvs the gradient was found using the points,(100,0.025)and
r
248−100 148
(248,0.0625) to get = =3700
0.0625−0.025 0.04

Discussion: For the values of the graph and its gradient,the F values increased
1
proportionally to the values of ,However if it were a graph of F vs r the gradient would
r
1
be the same except negative.If F is proportional to ,the F is inversely proportional to r.
r
Eg. Force at 10 radius=400N but when radius is multiplied by 4 to get 40 force is
divided by 4 to get 100N

Reflection:Circular motion can be seen in everyday life with an example such as a

carousel/merry go round where the horses on it go at a constant speed with a fic=xed
radius,therefore if the radius were to be multiplied by 4,the centripetal force keeping you
in circular motion would be divided by 4,hence they are inversely proportional.

Conclusion:From the experiment of circular motion it was found that centripetal force is
inversely proportional to radius.