Circular Motion Basics

Circular Motion Basics

• There is always a force pulling the object toward the center.

• It might keep a constant SPEED, but its VELOCITY changes because its DIRECTION changes.

• Remember: velocity has direction and speed does not.

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• In a satellite's case, the pull is gravity.

• Anytime you have a force pulling something toward the center, we call it centripetal force.

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Formula for Circular Motion

• This formula is used for circular motion for engineers designing curves in roads, rocket scientists putting satellites into space, roller coaster designers, and much more!

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A 100kg car is racing on a flat track at 22 m/s around a curve with a 56 meter radius. Find the car’s centripetal acceleration. Find the force that the car feels on it.

 $a\ =\frac{v^2}{r}$   $F=ma$