Centripetal Acceleration

A body that moves in a circular path at a velocity whose magnitude is constant is said to undergo uniform
circular motion.
Although the velocity of a body in uniform circular motion is constant in magnitude, its direction changes
continually. The body is therefore accelerated. The direction of this centripetal acceleration is toward the
center of the circle in which the body moves, and its magnitude is

v2
a c=
r
( velocity of body )2
centripetal acceleration=
radius of circular patℎ

Because the acceleration is perpendicular to the path followed by the body, its velocity changes only in
direction, not in magnitude.

Centripetal Force
The inward force that must be applied to keep a body moving in a circle is called centripetal force.
Without centripetal force, circular motion cannot occur. Since F=ma , the magnitude of the centripetal
force on a body in uniform motion is

m v2
Centripetal force=F c =
r

Example 1.
A ball is whirled at the end of a string in a horizontal circle 60 cm in radius at the rate of 1 revolution
every 2 s. Find the ball’s centripetal acceleration.
Solution:

The distance the ball travels per revolution is

Since each revolution takes 2 s, the ball’s velocity is

The ball’s centripetal acceleration is therefore

Example 2.
A 1000-kg car rounds a turn of radius 30 m at a velocity of 9m/s. How much centripetal force is
required?
Solution:
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Example 3.
How much centripetal force is needed to keep a 160-lb skater moving in a circle 20 ft in radius at a
velocity of 10 ft/s?
Solution:

Example 4.
The maximum force a road can exert on the tires of a 1500-kg car is 8500 N. What is the maximum
velocity at which the car can round a turn of radius 120 m?
Solution:

Motion in a Vertical Circle

When a body moves in a vertical circle at the end of a string, the tension in the string varies with the
body’s position. The centripetal force F c on the body at any point is the vector sum of T and the
component of the body’s weight w toward the center of the circle. At the top of the circle, the weight w
and the tension T both act toward the center of the circle, and so

T =F c − w
At the bottom of the circle, w acts away from the center of the circle, and so

T =F c + w

Example 5.
A string 0.5 m long is used to whirl a 1-kg stone in a vertical circle at a uniform velocity of 5 m/s. What is
the tension in the string (a) when the stone is at the top of the circle and (b) when the stone is at the
bottom of the circle?
Solution:
(a) The centripetal force needed to keep the stone moving at 5 m/s is

(b) At the bottom of the circle,

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Example 6.
An airplane pulls out of a dive in a circular arc whose radius is 1200 m. The airplane’s velocity is constant
200 m/s. Find the force with which the 80-kg pilot presses down on his seat at the bottom of the arc.
Solution:

Example 7.
A ball at the end of an 80-cm string is being whirled in a vertical circle. At what critical velocity v 0 will the
string begin to go slack at the top of the ball’s path?
Solution:

Example 8.
A ball is being whirled vertically at constant energy at the end of an 80-cm string. If the ball’s speed at
the top of the circle is 3 m/s, what is its speed at the bottom of the circle?
Solution:
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Exercises
1. A hole is drilled to the center of the earth, and a stone whose mass is 1 kg at the earth’s surface
is dropped into it. What is the mass of the stone when it is at the earth’s center? What is its
weight?
2. A lasso is whirled so that the loop at its end describes a horizontal circle 5 ft in radius. If each
revolution of the lasso requires 4 s, find the centripetal acceleration of the loop.
3. A 0.02-kg ball is whirled in a horizontal circle at the end of a string 0.5 m long whose breaking
strength is 1 N. Neglecting gravity, what is the maximum velocity the ball can have?
4. How much centripetal force is needed to keep a 4 lb iron ball moving in a horizontal circle of
radius 5 ft at a velocity of 15 ft/s?
5. A 500-kg airplane makes a horizontal turn 1 km in radius at a velocity of 50 m/s. how much
centripetal force is required?
6. A woman swings a pail of water at a constant velocity in a vertical circle 100 cm in radius. (a) if
the water is not spill, what is the minimum velocity the pail can have? (b) How much time per
revolution is this equivalent to?
7. A string 1 m long is used to swing a 500-g ball in a vertical circle. What is the tension in the string
at the top of the circle when the ball is moving at 5 m/s?
8. The 200-g head of a golf club is moving at 45 m/s in a circular arc 1 m in radius. Ignoring the
mass of the club’s shaft, how much force must the player exert on the handle of the club to keep
it from flying out his hands at the bottom of the swing?
9. What angle in radians is subtended by an arc 5.0 m in length on the circumference of a circle
whose radius is 2.0 m? What is this angle in degrees?
10. A merry-go-round is being pushed by a child. The angle the merry-go-round has turned through
varies with time according to θ ( t )=¿. Calculate the average angular velocity for the time
intervals t = 0 to t = 2.0 s and t = 0 to t = 5.0 s.
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