Department of Engineering Technology

University of Ruhuna

TMS1161: Common Practical 1(Physics of Mechanical Systems)

Experiment 9: Circular Motion

Objectives:
 To measure the force and velocity associated with the circular motion of the mass being spun in
a horizontal circle.
 To derive a mathematical relationship between the centripetal force and velocity of a mass in
uniform circular motion.
 To use a graphical method to determine an experimental value for the mass of the spinning
object.

Apparatus and material required:

Data collection system, Force sensor with hook, Balance, Universal Table Clamp, Pulley Mounting
Rod, Meter stick, Rubber stopper with hole (size 10), Durable string, 1.5-m, Plastic tie, Hollow tube,
Permanent marker.

Background Theory:
Objects accelerate either by changing their speed, their direction, or both. An object traveling at a
constant speed in a circular path is constantly changing directions, therefore it is accelerating. The net
force causing the acceleration is directed toward the center of the circle and is called a centripetal (or
center-seeking) force. This force could be the tension in a rope, the gravitational force on a satellite, or
friction between an object and a rotating disk.
Like any other force, centripetal forces obey Newton's second law:
--------(1)
The velocity vectors shown below and the corresponding radii can be used to form similar triangles as
shown in the figures.

Because we have similar triangles for the velocity and radius we can write
| | | |

where | | | | and | | | |
∆ ∆
Using | | ∆ and | | ∆ we get: ,
∆ ∆

∆ ∆
Dividing both sides of the equation by ∆ we get:

Taking the limit when ∆ → 0 we get: , where is the centripetal acceleration.
Thus the centripetal acceleration can be written as,

---------(2)
Therefore Newton's second law can be rewritten as: , where M is the mass of the rotating
object.

Therefore the centripetal Force can be written as: -----------(3)

Thus: ----------(4)

The plot of vs. of equation 4 is a straight line which can be expressed of the form
, where m = and = 0.
Thus the mass of the rotating object is given by,
------------(5)
Error Analysis:
If  is the error of the mass M, then from equation (5) we get:
δ δ
 -------------(6)
where δ is the error of the slope and δ is the error of radius r (i.e. error of length measurements)
.

Procedure:

1. Assemble the force sensor, pulley mounting rod, and

universal table clamp. (see figure)
Note: you may need to get your teacher’s help as this
assembling method of the force sensor may be somewhat
different in your setup.
2. Tie a 1.5 m length of string to the hook on the force sensor.
3. Secure a plastic tie through the center of the size-10 rubber
stopper, and then tie the free end of the string to the plastic
tie. (see figure)
4. Connect the force sensor to the data collection system and
display Force (Inverted) on the y-axis of a graph with Time
on the x-axis.
5. Change the sample rate of the force sensor to 40 Hz.
6. With no tension in the string, press the Zero button on the force sensor.
7. Hold the hollow tube directly above the force sensor and above your head and then begin to spin
the stopper in a horizontal circle of fixed radius equal to 50 cm.
Note 1: Watch the mark on the string while you spin the stopper to make certain that you maintain
a 50 cm radius.
Note 2: Get your teachers help for properly doing this step the first time.
8. Using a meter stick, measure a 50 cm length of string from the center of the stopper and use the
permanent marker to make a small mark on the string at that point.
9. When the stopper is spinning at a constant speed and radius, begin data recording.
10. After more than 7 revolutions, stop data recording.
11. Scale the graph to view all of the data. If the data does not reflect 7 or more revolutions with
somewhat consistent force (there will be some oscillation), delete the data run and repeat the
previous steps.
12. If your data is consistent, select 7 or more consistent revolutions and manually scale the graph so
that only these revolutions are visible.
13. Find the difference in time between the first and last peak on the graph and record this value in a
Table such as Table 1.
14. Count the number of revolutions during that interval. Record this value in Table 1.
15. Use the data collection system to determine the average force during the same time interval and
record this value in Table 1.
16. Repeat the previous steps from step 7 to step 14, using the same stopper and circle radius for 4
other significantly different forces. When you are finished, you will have 5 complete runs of data.
Table 1:
Data Run # Time Between Number of Average Force
Peaks Revolutions
Between Peaks (N)
(s) n
1
2
3
4
5

17. Use a balance to measure the mass of the rubber stopper and record that value in units of grams as:
Mass of stopper: _____________________________ g

18. Record the radius of rotation in cm.

Radius of rotation: ____________________________ cm

Data Analysis:

1. Write down the Mass of stopper as, M = __________________________ kg

2. Write down the Radius of rotation as, r = ___________________________ m
3. From Table 1, copy the time between peaks and number of revolutions between peaks into the
first and second columns of a table such as, Table 2 and average force values into the last
column Table 2 as centripetal force , and fill in the remaining columns to calculate the speed of
the stopper for each data run and enter the calculated values into Table 2. (Also find the )

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 Note 1: To calculate the speed , first you need to calculate the period T of the circular motion (i.e.
The time taken for one revolution/turn of the circular motion). Thus , where is time
taken for n making number of revolutions and n is the number of revolutions (n is an integer).
Note 2: Next you need to calculate the circumference C of the circular path (where 2 ).
Then the speed is given by, .
Table 2:
Data Run # Time Number of Period of Stopper Stopper Centripetal
Between Revolutions Circular Speed: Speed Force: (N)
Peaks: Between Motion: T (s) (m/s) squared:
(s) Peaks: n (m/s)2

1
2
3
4
5

4. Plot a graph of centripetal force versus speed squared using data from your Table 2. Label
the overall graph, the x-axis, the y-axis, and include units on your axes.
5. Draw a line of best fit (straight line that goes though the center of mass) through your graph, and
find the slope of the line by choosing two further away points , and , as:
–

–

6. Using Eq. 5 state the mass as, _________________________

7. Draw a straight line with the least slope possible (minimum best-fit line) and find the slope of it
(i.e. minimum slope).
8. Draw a straight line with the greatest slope possible (maximum best-fit line) and find the slope of it
(i.e. maximum slope).
9. Using the slopes of these two lines, calculate the final uncertainty in the stated value of the slope m
–
of your best fit line as: m =
10. Using Eq. 6 find the error of mass and state it as,  =_________________________
11. Thus using the previous result and Eq. 5 state the mass of the Rubber Stopper with the uncertainty
as,  _________________________

Questions:
1. Does the calculated value of the Mass M of the Rubber stopper agree with the measured value
within their error limits?
(If not remember to discuss what would have caused the disagreement in your discussion section
of your lab-report.)
2. What are few assumptions that we have made about the nature of the circular motion during this
experiment that may have caused a systematic error in this experiments.
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