Unit 04 Circular Motion Mastery of Learning Assignment

Directions: Complete each of the following problems to be eligible for the reassessment. This
must be completed by Thursday, December 3. The reassessment will be given in the
Planetarium during Cougar Time on Thursday, December 3. Note: There is a faculty meeting on
the afternoon of Tuesday, December 1, so I will not be available to meet that afternoon. Another
note (even though this is after the reassessment): There is a department meeting on the afternoon
of Tuesday, December 8, so I also will not be available to meet on that afternoon, either.
1. There were 3 new, important formulas that we learned during this unit. For each of these,
write down the formula, what each of the variables means, and also derive as many
additional formulas from these as you can. (You should be able to derive two additional
formulas for centripetal acceleration, as well as two additional formulas concerning
characteristics of circular orbits.)
Solution:

Here, is the centripetal acceleration, is the tangential velocity, in the first two
equations is the radius of the circular motion, is the period of the circular motion, is
the force of gravity between two massive objects (also called weight), and are the
masses of said objects, and in the third equation is the distance between the centers of
the objects.
From the first two equations:
(

(
Combining the first and third equations and using

)
on the first equation, we have

Plugging in

, we have
(

We can also use

(

2. A Ferris Wheel of diameter D is rotating such that the seats are moving uniformly at
speed . Calculate the normal force on a rider of mass at (a) the top of the ride and
(b) the bottom of the ride. Make sure to show free-body diagrams, and justify your steps.
Your answer is only allowed to be in terms of variables given.
Solution: In both situations, the net force must equal
. The direction of this net
force is what changes. At the top of the ride, the direction is downward, while at the
bottom of the ride, the direction is upward. Thus, at the top of the ride, the net force must
total
in the downward direction, while at the bottom of the ride, the net force
must total
in the upward direction. Of course, we have
, so well need to
take this into account when we do the calculation. Here are the free-body diagrams. At
the top, we have
Assuming the positive direction to be toward the
center of the circle (down in this case), we have

At the bottom, we have

Assuming the positive direction to be again
toward the center of the circle (up in this case),
we have

3. A student twirls a cup full of water around a vertical circle of radius . If the mass of the
cup plus water is and the period of the motion is , calculate the tension force
in the
string at (a) the top of the loop and (b) the bottom of the loop. Make sure to show free-

body diagrams, and justify your steps. Your answer is only allowed to be in terms of
variables given.
Solution: We have the free-body diagram at the top of the motion as shown here:
Assuming, as always for the past two units, that
the positive direction will be the direction of the
acceleration, we have

At the bottom of the motion, we have

Assuming the positive direction again to be
the direction of the acceleration, which is
upward this time, we have

(
(

4. A flying pig of mass is moving in a circle of radius due to being attached by a string
of length , where the other end of the string is fixed into the ceiling.
a. Set up a free-body diagram for this situation.
b. Calculate the speed of the pig and the tension in the string.
Solution:

First, we show both a diagram and a free-body diagram of the situation. In the diagram
on the left, we show the dimensions of the system, and then we show the forces in the
free-body diagram on the right.

Referring to the diagram at the left, we see that given the

measurements that were allowed to use, we have

Now, referring to the free-body diagram at the right, we have

Dividing the first equation by the second, we have

(

From

, we have
(

( )

5. Calculate what must happen to the centripetal acceleration of an object if its speed
doubles while the radius of the circular motion becomes one-fourth of what it was.
Solution: We have
(

( )
( )

( )
6. Calculate what must happen to the period of motion if the centripetal acceleration is
multiplied by 2 and the radius of the motion is halved.
Solution: We have

( )

( )
(

)
( )

( )

( )

7. A satellite is orbiting a planet at speed

when it is at the planets surface. Calculate
what would be the satellites new speed if its orbit was a circular orbit at a distance of
three planetary radii above the planets surface.
Solution: For orbits, the force is caused by Newtons Law of Universal Gravitation:

( )

( )

The planet is the same planet, so

. Originally, we have
, where
is the
planets radius. (Assume the satellite doesnt collide with the planet.) We have
. This is because the satellite is now three planetary radii
above the surface of the planet. Be careful of such wording! This is a common type of
question to ask, and the wording can sometimes be tricky to those not paying attention.
Anyway, we now realize that we have

( )

( )
( )

8. A satellite is orbiting a planet of mass

in a circular orbit of speed and radius . If
the satellite then goes into orbit around a different planet at a speed of and a radius of
, calculate what must be the mass of the new planet.
Solution: From the previous derivation, we have
(

( )( )

9. A planet orbiting a star of mass

takes 4.0 years to travel around the star once in a
circular orbit of radius . If another planet is in an orbit of radius
around a star of
mass
, calculate how many years it would take this new planet to complete one orbit.
Solution: From the previous derivation in problem 7, we obtained

Now, we can obtain a new equation by use of the formula for tangential velocity:
(

)
( )

)( )

( )

( )
(