Centripetal Force and Motion in a

Horizontal Circle

Prerequisites
You should be familiar with Newton’s second law and with resolving forces, including problems
concerning the static equilibrium of an object resting on an inclined surface. You should also be
familiar with measuring angles in radians, and finding the arc length of a segment of a circle.

Example (1)

A small boy played an amusing game of whirling a ball on a string in the air. Explain in
terms of forces why the ball continues moving in a horizontal circle. Ignore air resistance.

Solution
Axis
Direction of motion
Tension

Centripetal force
Centripetal force

Direction of motion

Weight Bird's eye view

Once the ball is moving the it would naturally want to move in a straight line, indicated in
the diagram by the direction of motion. What keeps it moving in a circle is the tension in

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 the string. This tension does two things. Firstly, it holds the ball up. The ball has a
weight and would fall but for the tension in the string. Secondly, the tension in the string
supplies a centripetal force that pulls the ball towards the centre of the circle. Since we
are ignoring air resistance there are only two actual forces acting on the ball; these are the
tension in the string and the weight of the ball. The centripetal force, which acts in a
horizontal plane directed towards the axis of rotation, is the resultant of these two forces.
The ball is travelling in a horizontal circle that lies in a plane perpendicular to the axis of
rotation.

Axis of rotation

Horizontal plane
Motion in a
horizontal circle

The centripetal force is also called the radial force.

Example (2)
A sphere of mass m kg is moving in a horizontal circle. It is held up by a cord inclined at
an angle  to the vertical axis of rotation, as shown in the diagram.

Find in terms of m the magnitude of the tension in the cord and the resultant centripetal
force.

Solution
Let the weight of the sphere be W.
Let the tension in the cord be T.
Let the resultant centripetal force be F.

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 T

Resolving vertically

 T cos   W  mg
mg
T 
cos 
Resolving horizontally

  F  T sin 
mg
  sin 
cos 
 mg tan 

These equations are of general application.

Example (3)
A cyclist in a racing event is travelling at a constant speed in a horizontal circle on a track
banked at an angle of 20 to the horizontal. There is no tendency to slip at this speed.
The total mass of the rider and the cycle is 100 kg. Modelling the cycle and the rider as a
particle
(a) calculate the normal reaction of the track on the cycle,
(b) calculate the centripetal force acting on the rider and his cycle that keeps them
moving in a horizontal circle.

Solution
In this question the object (here the cyclist and his bike) are not held up by a cord, but the
force that balances the weight and provides the resultant centripetal force is the normal
reaction of the surface of the track.
Let the weight of the sphere be W.
Let the normal reaction be N.
Let the resultant centripetal force be F.

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 20
N

20
W = mg = 100  9.8 = 98 N

(a) Resolving vertically

 N cos20  W  98
98
N   104.28...  104 N 3 s.f.
cos20
(b) Resolving horizontally

  F  N sin 20
98
  sin 20
cos20
 98  tan 20
 35.669...
 35.7 N 3 s.f.

Motion in a horizontal circle

What we have seen is that when a particle is moving in a circle with constant speed, v ms1 , a
force is required to keep it in this circle.

This force must be directed towards the centre of the circle, and is consequently called a
centripetal or radial force.

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The magnitude of this centripetal force is
mv 2
F 
r
where m kg is the mass of the particle and r m is the radius of the horizontal circle of motion. We
shall prove this below.

Example (4)

A sphere of mass 2.5 kg is moving in a horizontal circle at a constant speed of 2.1 ms1 .
It is held up by a cord inclined at an angle 30 to the vertical axis of rotation, as shown in
the diagram.

30

Find
(a) the magnitude of the tension in the cord,
(b) the radius of the circle.

Solution

30
T

W = mg = 2.5  9.8 = 24.5 N

(a) Resolving vertically

 T cos30  W  24.5

24.5
T   28.29...  28.3 N 3 s.f.
cos30
(b) Resolving horizontally
24.5
  F  T sin 20   sin 30  24.5  tan 30  14.145...
cos30

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 Then

mv 2
F 
r
2.5  2.1
2

14.145... 
r
2.5  2.1
2

r   0.7794...  0.779 m 3 s.f.

14.145...

Remark
If the speed of the particle is not constant the resultant force will then be either pulling the
particle in towards the centre of the horizontal circle in a spiral or the particle will be spiralling
outwards. Yet even when the particle’s speed is constant it is accelerating. This is because there
is a centripetal force that is not zero. This force causes the particle to constantly change its
direction. By Newton’s first law if the centripetal force did not exist, the particle would otherwise
travel in a straight line at constant speed, but the centripetal force causes the motion of the
particle to be bent into a circle.

Angular velocity
Let a particle P be moving at a constant speed v ms1 in a horizontal circle. Let the origin of the
motion be placed at the centre of the circle and let us also establish a set of coordinates for the
horizontal plane in which the motion takes place.

y
v

Let the angle made by the particle and the x-axis be  . As P moves around the circle the angle 
increases. Suppose at time t  0 s the angle is also   0 so that we fix the direction of the x-axis
by this means. Then clearly as t increases the angle  increases. The rate of increase of the angle

 is also clearly related in some way to the constant velocity of the particle P, which is v ms1 .

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Angular velocity
We call the angle swept out per unit of time angular velocity and usually denote this by  . (This
is a Greet letter pronounced “omega”.) We have the following.
change in angle 
angular velocity = 
change in time t


Angles can be measured in either degrees  symbol   or radians symbol, rad or C
. Therefore,

depending on how angles are measured the units of angular velocity are either degrees per second

 s 
1
 
or radians per second rad s1 . However, it is usual for angular velocity to be measured in

radians per second, and this is assumed in questions unless otherwise stated.

We remarked above that there must be a relationship between angular velocity   of a particle in

horizontal motion and its speed  v  . We state here that this relationship is given by the equation

v  r  where angular velocity   is measured in radians per second. If we use degrees per

second we must convert radians to degrees using the usual equivalence  rad  180 . We will
prove the formula v  r  in an appendix below.

Example (5)

A particle P is travelling in a horizontal circle of radius 5 m at a speed of 12 ms1 . Find

the angular velocity of particle in (a) radians per second and (b) degrees per second.

Solution
v  r
v  12 r  5
12  5
12
  2.4 rad s1
5
In degrees per second
180
  2.4   137.509...  137.5 s1


Example (6)
The minute hand of the Big Ben clock is 3 m long. Find the speed of the tip of this minute
hand.

Solution
The minute hand makes one revolution in 60 minutes; that is it moves through 2
radians in 60  60 seconds. So its angular velocity is

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 2
 rad s 1
60  60
2
Its velocity is v  r  3   0.00523... ms1  5.23 mm s1
60  60

Centripetal acceleration
Let a particle P be moving at a constant speed v ms1 in a horizontal circle. Then P is subject to a
centripetal force. The centripetal force causes the particle to accelerate towards the centre of the
circle of motion. This centripetal acceleration has the effect of bending the motion of the particle
constantly into a circle. If the centripetal force is increased the particle will spiral in towards the
centre, if it is decreased the particle will spiral outwards. Newton’s second law is F  ma . We have

mv 2
stated that when F is the centripetal force we have F  . Hence
r

mv 2
 ma
r
v2
a
r
Since the relationship between speed and angular velocity is v  r  this also gives

v 2 r  
2

a   r2
r r

Remark
The above only serves to illustrate the relationship between centripetal force, acceleration and
speed and are not proofs. Strictly we should prove both the following formula

1 v  r

2 a  r2

where v  speed, r  radius,   angular velocity, a  centripetal acceleration

mv 2
From these the formulae F   mr  2 follow by Newton’s second law.
r
You may take these relationships on trust, or follow the proofs given in the appendix below.

Summary
mv 2 v2
Centripetal force F   mr  2 Centripetal acceleration a  r2
r r
We remind you that in these formulae angles are measured in radians.

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Example (7)

A car is travelling at uniform speed v ms1 on a horizontal track that is a circle of radius

225 m. Given that the centripetal acceleration is 0.25 ms1 , find v.

Solution
v2
a  v  ar  0.25  225  7.5 ms1
r

Example (8)
O

20 3

A particle P is attached to one end of a light inextensible string of length 3 m. The other
end of the string is attached to a fixed point O. The particle is moving in a horizontal

circle with constant speed v ms1 . The string is taut and makes an angle of 20° to the
vertical. Find v.

Solution
O O

20 3
20 T

P
F r = 3 sin20

W = mg

The centripetal force is being provided by the horizontal component of the tension in the
string T. The vertical component is in equilibrium with the weight.

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  Tcos 20  mg (1)

mv 2
  T sin 20  (2)
r
mg
from (1) T 
cos20
Substituting in (2)

mg mv 2
 sin 20 
cos20 r
Therefore

v 2  tan 20  g  r

Here r  3sin 20

v  tan 20  9.8  3sin 20  1.9130...  1.91 ms1 3 s.f.

Appendix - proofs
This section is optional. Students are advised learn the proofs wherever possible as these develop
insight and help recall.

To prove

1 v  r 2 a  r2

where v  speed, r  radius,   angular velocity, a  centripetal acceleration

Proof
vB
B
vA

Consider a particle moving at constant speed v ms1 in a horizontal circle. Initially it is at point
A. After a short interval, t seconds, it reaches B, in which time it has swept out an angle of  .

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In t seconds the displacement between A and B is shown in the following diagram by the straight
line joining A to B.

r s
x

r A

This displacement is approximately equal to the arc length. That is

x  s  r

In the limit as t  0 t gets smaller and smaller  then this becomes exact. Hence

dx ds d
  r
dt dt dt
d
v r
dt
d
But   is the rate of change of angle per unit of time; that is, angular velocity. Hence
dt
v  r
This proves the first formula.

To prove the second formula, let the velocity of the particle P at A be v A and at B be v B . The

speed is constant, so v A  v B  v .

The following diagram shows that the angle between the velocity vectors V A and V B is also  .

vB direction of vB direction of vA
B B
vA

A
A

The change in velocity is found by the triangle law for vectors as v  vB  v A .

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vB  vA

vA

vB

Over time t the average acceleration is

v vB  vA
a 
t t
d
and the size of the instantaneous acceleration is a  vB  vA . Now consider the following
dt
diagram
v

vB  vA
vA = v

vB = v

The magnitude of the vector vB  v A is shown by the straight line joining the tips of v A to v B .

The arc length joining the tips of V A to V B is v . (This follows from the arc length formula

s  r where for s we substitute the distance along the arc from V A to V B and for r we substitute

the speed v.) So we have

v B  v A  v

In the limit as t  0 then v B  v A  v . That is

d d d
a vB  vA  v  v  v
dt dt dt
From the first relationship v  r  . Hence

a  r2
or
v2
a
r
From this the relationship for centripetal force
v2
F  ma  m  mr  2
r
follows by Newton’s second law.

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