Dela Cruz, Eiram Voriz P.

(Leader) - Present
Santos, Lance - Absent
Lacson, Sean - Absent
Villafuerte, Mariko - Present

UNIFORM CIRCULAR MOTION

I. EXPERIMENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the experiment, students should be able to:

a. measure the speed and frequency of a rotating body.
b. determine the relationship between the counter-weight, mass of the object and the frequency
of rotation.

II. MATERIALS

3 rubber stoppers
1 paper clip
1 meter stick
3 weights (one 20-g and two 50-g)
1 tube with smooth end
1 1.0 m long string
1 stopwatch
1 triple beam balance

III. INTRODUCTION

An object that moves in a circular path with uniform speed is acted upon by a net force that is
directed towards the center. This is the force responsible to keep the object on its path. It is
called centripetal force. The magnitude of centripetal force can be determined using these
equations:

Fc = 4mπ 2 rf 2

where m = mass of the object

f = frequency
r = radius of the curvature

IV. PROCEDURE

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 Figure 6.1

Part l Variable mass, constant radius (r = 0.50 m)

1. Using the triple beam balance, obtain the mass of the rubber stopper. Record in Table 6.1.
2. Get a 1.0 m long string. Tie one end of the string securely to the rubber stopper. Pass the
other end through the tube and fasten a 50-g mass to it. Compute the theoretical value of
centripetal force

Fctheo = mc g

where mc = hanging mass (with hanger)

g = gravitational acceleration

3. Place the rubber stopper 50.0 cm from the end of the glass tube. Place the paper clip one
centimeter (1 cm) below the lower end of the tube as a reference.
4. Whirl the stopper in a horizontal circle above your head, maintaining the 0.50-m distance
from the top of the glass tube to the end of the stopper. It is necessary to whirl the rubber
stopper at just the right speed to maintain this distance.
5. Measure the time it takes the rubber stopper to have 10 rotations. Record it in Table 6.1.
6. Calculate the frequency of the rotating rubber stopper. Use the equation below.

Number of rotations
f=
time

7. Add 20-g mass to the lower end of the string. Record the total mass of the counter weight.
8. Once again, note the time needed to rotate the rubber stopper 10 times.
9. Repeat procedures 6 and 7, by adding the other weights one at a time to the lower end of the
string.
10. Calculate the experimental values of the centripetal force using the formula shown below.
Your units should be in SI.
Fcexp = 4mr π 2 rf 2

where mr = mass of the rubber stopper in kilograms

r = radius in meters
f = frequency in Hertz

11. Compute for the percentage difference using the equation:

Fctheo − Fcexp
% di f ference = 1
x100
2
(Fctheo + Fcexp)

Part II Variable radius and constant mass (m = 50g)

1. Attach a 50 g mass to the end of the string. This is the counterweight for all the trials.
2. Fasten the reference clip so that the length of the string (from the edge of the rubber stopper
to the top of the glass tube) is 0.30 m. You can do this by moving the tube towards the rubber
and the paper clip right below the opposite end of the glass.

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3. Rotate the rubber stopper as before for the radius of 0.5 m. Record the time required for 10
revolutions of the stopper in Table 6.2.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the radii of 0.35m, 0.40 m, 0.45 m and 0.50 m. Record the time
required for 10 revolutions.
5. Compute for the experimental value of the centripetal force and record it and its average.
6. Compute for the percentage difference between theoretical and the average experimental
centripetal force.

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V. DATA AND RESULTS

VI. GENERALIZATION/CONCLUSION

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Page 5
VII. CREDITS

Created by: Laboratory Committee

Version: 2.0
Modified: July 2019

VIII. REFERENCES

Committee on Physics Laboratory. Physics 1 Laboratory Manual.

Giancoli, Douglas C. (2001). Physics 5th Edition. Pearson Education, Asia Pte Ltd.
Young, Hugh D. and Freedman, Roger A. (2010). Sear’s and Zemansky’s University Physics
12th Edition. United States of America: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.

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