SPH 4U UCM Review

1. For an object travelling with “uniform circular motion,” its acceleration is

a) zero because the speed is constant
b) directed tangent to the circle
c) directed toward the centre of the circle
d) changing in magnitude depending on its position in the circle
e) directed outward from the centre of the circle

2. A child whirls a ball around in circles on the end of a 48 cm long string at a frequency of 2.5 Hz.
What is the ball’s centripetal acceleration?
a) 1.2 x 104 m/s2 d) 38 m/s2
2 2
b) 1.2 x 10 m/s e) 3.0 m/s2
c) 47 m/s2

3. A fighter jet flies at 328 km/h in an arc of radius 235 m. How many “g’s” of centripetal
acceleration does the pilot experience? (1g = 9.8 m/s2)
a) 47 d) 3.6
b) 35 e) 1.5
c) 3.8

4. An airplane, while pulling out of a dive, at some moment, has an instantaneous centripetal
acceleration of 3g. The apparent weight of the pilot at the time is
a) mg b) 2 mg c) 3 mg d) 4 mg e) 5 mg

5. A curve in the highway is banked at 15° and designed for a speed of 85 km/h. If a careful
driver rounds the curve at 70 km/h, the force of friction on the car is
a) in the same direction as the centrifugal force
b) in the same direction as the centripetal force
c) parallel to the road and towards the outside of the curve
d) parallel to the road and towards the inside of the curve
e) in the same direction as the normal force

6. A wheel of diameter 85 cm spins at a rate such that a point on the rim of the wheel has an
acceleration of 45 m/s2. How many rotations does the wheel make in 1.0 min?
a) 1.7 x 102 d) 6.9
b) 98 e) 0.93
c) 69

7. The diagram below shows a rock on the end of a

string being whirled around in a circle in the
horizontal plane. The motion is viewed from above
and the stone is rotating clockwise. What are the
directions associated with its instantaneous
velocity and instantaneous acceleration,
respectively?
a) south, east d) west, west
b) east, west e) south, west
c) south, south

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 8. The reason that curves on roads are often banked is because
a) the coefficient of static friction is increased
b) the coefficient of kinetic friction is increased
c) a component of the normal force can contribute to the centripetal force
d) the gravitational force acting on the car is reduced
e) the normal force acting on the car is reduced

9. A 1.0-kg and a 2.0-kg mass are each tied to the ends of identical strings and whirled around in
circles that describe a horizontal plane. The larger mass moves with a speed of 3.2 m/s. For the
tension in the two strings to be the same, the smaller mass must be moving with a speed of
a) 6.4 m/s d) 2.3 m/s
b) 4.5 m/s e) 1.6 m/s
c) 3.2 m/s

10. A rock is tied to the end of a 35 cm long string and whirled around in a circle that describes a
vertical plane. The tension in the string becomes zero when the speed of the rock is
a) 9.8 x 102 cm/s d) 9.8 cm/s
2
b) 1.9 x 10 cm/s e) 1.9 cm/s
c) 19 cm/s

11. A ball of mass 4.0 kg is attached to the end of a 1.2 m long string and whirled around in a circle
that describes a vertical plane.
a) What is the minimum speed that the ball can be moving at and still maintain a circular path?
Provide a free-body diagram. (3.43 m/s)
b) At this speed, what is the maximum tension in the string? Provide another free-body
diagram. (78.4 N)
c) If the ball is rotated in a horizontal circle at the same speed with the end of the string
held above the head, what angle does the string make with the horizontal? (45°)

12. A pilot of mass 60.0 kg is flying her plane in a vertically oriented circular loop. Just at the
bottom of the loop, the plane’s speed is 1.8 x 102 km/h and the pilot feels exactly four times as
heavy as she normally does.
a) What is the radius of the loop? (85 m)
b) At what speed must she be flying at the top of the loop in order to feel weightless? (29 m/s)

13. On one snowy December day, the coefficient of friction on a 21° banked curve is only 0.2. If
the radius of the curve is 100 m, what range of speeds is possible? (12.9 m/s to 24.9 m/s)

14. A circular curve of highway is designed for traffic moving at 60 km/h.

a) If the radius of the curve is 150 m, what is the correct angle of banking of the road?
(11°)
b) If the curve is not banked, what is the minimum coefficient of friction between tires
and road that would keep traffic from skidding at this speed? (0.19)

15. For uniform circular motion, what value is the constant of proportionality? Its value can be
determined experimentally as long as certain relationships exist. Explain or describe them.

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