PHYSICS 2 UNIT 3

Homework

1. Give three examples of circular motion in the real world.

2. What happens to the magnitude and the direction of velocity in uniform circular motion?

3. What is the direction of acceleration in uniform circular motion?

4. What is the direction of the net force in uniform circular motion?

5. A car rounds a curve at a steady 50 km/h If it rounds the same curve at a steady 70 km/h
will its acceleration be any different? Explain.

6. Will the acceleration of a car be the same when a car travels around a sharp curve at a
constant 60 km/h as when it travels around a gentle curve at the same speed? Explain.

7. A car is moving at a speed of 20 m/s around a circular track of radius 50 meters. What is
the centripetal acceleration of the car?

8. A ball of mass 0.5 kg is attached to a string of length 1 meter and is being swung around
in a horizontal circle. If the ball is moving at a speed of 5 m/s, what is the tension in the
string?

9. Calculate the centripetal acceleration of a body that moves in a circle of radius 2.45 m
making 3.5 revolutions per second.

10. The average distance between the Earth and the Sun is r = 1.5 × 1011 m. The mass of the
Earth is 5.98 × 1024 kg and the mass of the Sun is 1.99 × 1030 kg. Estimate the force
between the Sun and the Earth.

11. The Hubble Space Telescope is in orbit around the Earth at a height of 560 km above the
Earth’s surface. Calculate Hubble’s speed, taking the radius and mass of the Earth to be
6.4 × 106 m and 6.0 × 1024 kg, respectively.

12. What is the maximum speed with which a 1200-kg car can round a turn of radius 90.0 m
on a flat road if the coefficient of friction between tires and road is 0.65? Is this result
independent of the mass of the car?

(More exercises on the next page)

13. A mass m is tied to a string and made to move in a vertical circle of radius r with
constant speed v. Determine the tension in the string at the lowest and highest points of
the circle.

14. A plane travelling at a speed 180 m/s along a horizontal circle makes an angle of θ = 35°
to the horizontal. The lift force L is acting in the direction shown. Calculate the radius of
the circle.

15. HONORS To negotiate a flat (unbanked) curve at a faster speed, a driver puts a couple of
sandbags in his van aiming to increase the force of friction between the tires and the
road. Will the sandbags help?