Advanced Higher

Maths of Mechanics

Circular Motion
 Circular Motion

Linear Motion Circular Motion

r  position   angular position

dr  d
v  velocity   angular speed
dt dt


dv d 2 r d

a   acceleration   angular acceleration
dt dt 2 dt

Consider a particle rotating in a circle of radius r, centre the origin.

The position vector of the particle is y

given by

 r cos   r
r   
 r sin   
O x
 

d r   r sin       sin  
v   
 r   
dt    cos  
 r cos   

   

d v   r cos     r sin     2  cos      sin  
a   
  r   
 sin    r   
dt   
    cos  
  r sin     r cos   

– sin

 cos   e
Now let e r    be the unit vector cos
 sin   
in the radial direction
er
sin
  sin   
and let e     be the unit vector
 cos   O cos
in the tangential direction

2
In summary

r  r er


v  r  e  r e

2 
a  r  e r  r  e   r  2 e r  r  e 

Note that the acceleration has two directions associated with it, one of which is the
tangential direction and the other is towards the centre of motion.

Uniform Circular Motion

These general equations are quite complicated and are much simpler when the
angular acceleration  is zero meaning that the angular speed  is constant.
Note that this does not mean that the linear acceleration is zero.


 Remember:

d t is in seconds
  is in radians
dt
 is in rad/s

  t  c 2
  2 f 
T
If   0 when t  0 then   t

Now we have simple expressions for linear velocity and linear acceleration

v  r
v2
a  r 2 
r

So despite having a constant speed given by v  r  , circular motion gives rise to an

v2
acceleration of magnitude r  2  towards the centre of motion. If a body is
r
accelerating while in circular motion, there must be a force acting towards the centre
of motion (centripetal force).

F  ma
mv 2
F  mr 2 
r
3
Example 1

A child sits on a roundabout 2.5m from the centre. The roundabout rotates at 15rpm.

Find

a) the angular speed.

b) the linear speed.

c) the acceleration towards the centre of motion.

solution

15
a) f   0.25 Hz
60

  2f  2  0.25  1.571 rad/s

b) v  r  2.5 1.571  3.93 m/s (linear speed which is tangential)

c) a  r 2  2.5  1.571 2  6.17 m/s2

Example 2

The ISS orbits the Earth every 90mins. If its orbital radius of 6800km, find

a) its linear speed.

b) its centripital acceleration.

solution

1 1 1
a) f    Hz
T 90  60 5400

1 1
  2f  2    rad/s
5400 2700

1
v  r  6800000    7912 .16 m/s
2700

2
 1 
b) a  r  6800000  
2
   9.21 m/s2
 2700 

4
Exercise 1

1. A fly is sitting on an old 78 record rotating at 78 rpm, whose radius is 12.5cm.

Find the linear speed and acceleration of the fly.

2. An electrical drill spins at 2400 rpm. What is the angular speed of the drill?

3. The earth orbits the sun every 365 days. Assuming that the orbit is circular with a
radius of 149  10 6 km, find the orbital speed and the acceleration of the earth.

4. A space shuttle orbits the earth 72 times in 2 days. What is its average angular
velocity in rad/s.

5. A car wheel has a radius of 27cm. If it rolls without slipping, find its angular
speed when the car is travelling at 60 km/h.

6. At a certain stage in its flight a discus of radius 12cm is moving horizontally and
spinning about its axis, which is vertical, at 5 revs per second. If the centre of the
discus is moving at 20 m/s, what are the maximum and minimum speeds of
points on the rim.

7. The fan belt of a car is shown.

If the belt moves without slipping
on the pulleys at a speed of 2 m/s,
calculate the angular speed of the
pulleys.

8cm

16cm

12cm
8. If the driver gear wheel is rotating at
10 rad/s, calculate the angular velocity
of the driven gear wheel. driver

driven

8cm

5
Conical Pendulum

Consider a mass attached to a light inelastic string of length l, the other end being
fixed, rotating to form a conical pendulum.

r  l sin 
 
T
l

Tcos

Tsin r

mg

The inward force required to move in a circle is m r 2 and is provided by the

component of tension acting towards the centre T sin  .

resolving forces vertically resolving forces horizontally

T sin   mr  2
mr  2
T cos   mg T
sin 
mg
T m l (sin  )  2
cos  T
sin 
T  ml2

equating these gives

mg
m l 2 
cos 
g
2 
l cos 

g

l cos 

6
Example 3

A particle of mass 23g is attached to a wire of length 50cm one end of which is
attached to a fixed point. The mass is given a push so that it performs a horizontal
circle with an angular velocity of 6 rad/s.

Find
a) the tension in the wire

b) the angle the wire makes with the downward vertical.

solution

a) T sin   mr  2

T sin   m(l sin  ) 2

T  ml  2

T  0.023  0.5  6 2

T  0.41 N

b) T cos   mg

mg
cos  
T

0.023  9.8
cos  
0.414

  57 .1o

7
Example 4

A car travels round a banked track at a constant speed such that no slipping occurs. If
the radius of the circle is 30m and the bank is at an angle of 24o, find the linear speed
of the car.

solution

mv 2
N sin   and N cos   mg
r

If we divide one equation by the other we have

mv 2
N sin 
 r
N cos  mg

v2
tan  
rg

v2
tan 24  
30  9.8

v 2  30  9.8  tan 24 

v  11.44 m/s

8
Exercise 2

1. A pendulum bob of mass 0.15kg is suspended from a fixed point by a thread of

length 2m. The bob is given a push so that it moves along a circular path in a
horizontal plane at a steady speed. It takes 18 seconds to make 10 complete
revolutions. Calculate

a) the tension in the thread.


b) the acceleration of the bob. 2m

c) the speed of the bob.

2. A particle of mass 15g is attached to a wire of length 50cm, the other end of
which is fixed, and is rotating at an angular speed of 6 rad/s to form a conical
pendulum. Find

a) the tension in the wire.

b) the angle the wire makes with the downward vertical.

3. A smooth hemispherical bowl of radius 15cm has its open end upwards. A ball
bearing is projected so that it is rotating at an angular speed of 12 rad/s in a
horizontal circle. Find the distance below the top of the bowl of the centre of this
circle.

4. A particle of mass 100g is attached to one end of a string of length 16cm and
hangs vertically at rest. The string passes through a smooth fixed ring 12cm
above the mass. To the other end of the string is attached a particle of mass 50g
which rotates in a horizontal circle about the vertical part of the string. Find

a) the distance below the ring of the centre of this circle.

b) the angular velocity of the 50g mass.

5. A string of length 50cm is attached to two points A and B, where A is 40cm

below B. A smooth ring C of mass 500g can slide on the string, and is projected
so as to rotate in a horizontal circle about the line AB. Given that BC = 30cm,
Find

a) the tension in the string.

b) the angular velocity of the ring.

9
6. An aircraft of mass 100 000kg is flying at a constant speed around a circle of
radius 3km. The plane is banked at 20 to the horizontal. If there is no tendency
to sideslip, find

a) the speed of the plane.

b) the lift force on the plane, assumed to be at right angles to the wing.

7. A cyclist and her bicycle have a total mass of 65kg. What is the maximum
speed that she can travel on a circular track of radius 100m, which is banked at
20 if there is no tendency to sideslip?

8. A car of mass 800kg is travelling at a steady speed of 30 m/s on a banked

surface of a circular track of radius 300m. At what angle to the horizontal is the
surface to be banked if there is no tendency to sideslip?

9. A bobsleigh shoots round a banked track on a horizontal circle of radius 150m at

a speed of 24 m/s. What is the angle of the track to the horizontal?

10. Two particles of mass 10kg and 4kg respectively are connected by a light
inextensible string passing through a smooth hole in a table, the 10kg mass being
on the table and the 4kg mass hanging underneath the table.

a) The 10kg mass is moving in a circle of radius 50cm on the table and
the 4kg mass hangs freely at rest under the table. If the table is smooth,
how many revolutions per minute must the 10kg mass make for this
to occur? (7)

b) Assume now that the table is rough, with coefficient of friction 0.5,
but that the hole is still smooth. The 10kg mass is now at rest on
the table and is on the point of slipping, while the 4kg mass
describes a horizontal circle with uniform speed 3 m/s below the
table. Find the radius of this circle and the length of the string
below the table. (9)

11. a) A circular bend of radius 288m is banked at such an angle that no frictional
force is required for a car to take the bend at a steady speed of 24 m/s.
Find the angle that the bank makes with the horizontal.

b) If the coefficient of friction between the car tyres and the road is 0.2,
find the maximum speed that the car can round the bend without slipping.

10
Non-Uniform Motion

Consider a mass on the end of a light inextensible string, of length l, allowed to swing
freely and that θ is the angle between the string and the downward vertical.

2 
Since a   r  e r  r  e

 T
Tangentially  mgsin   ml

 g
We obtain    sin 
l
mg sin 
For small values of θ, sin    mg cos 


mg
g
Giving   
l
g
Which is simple harmonic motion with  2 
l

2 l
Now the period of oscillation T   2
 g

Note: We will revisit this once we have completed the Oscillations topic.

11
Vertical Circles

Consider a mass on the end of a string which is being whirled around to form a
vertical circle. If we consider the tension in the string at the two extremes of the
motion i.e. when the mass is at the top and at the bottom of the circle.

At top At bottom
2
T = mr – mg mg
T

O
O 2
T = mr + mg
T

mg
Example 5

A mass of 50g is attached to one end of a wire of length 40cm. The mass is then
whirled around at a steady speed of 3 turns per second to form a vertical circle.

calculate
a) the centripetal acceleration of the stone.
b) the maximum and minimum tensions in the rope.

solution

a)   2f

  2   3

  18.84 rad/s so a  r 2  0.4  18 .84 2  142 .0 m/s2

b) at bottom of circle (maximum tension)

T  mr  2  mg

T  0.05  0.4  18 .84 2  0.05  9.8

T  7.59 N

at top of circle (minimum tension)

T  mr  2  mg

T  0.05  0.4  18 .84 2  0.05  9.8

T  6.61 N
12
General Case

Consider a particle on the end of a light inextensible string of length l .

l 

Find the height h above the lowest point on its path in terms of l and 

h  l  l cos 
h  l (1  cos  )

l 

also, consider the tension T in the string

mv 2
T  mg cos   equ1
l

T 
l
mgcos

mg

13
Now EK  EP  constant

1
If the speed of the particle at the lowest point is u the EK ( max)  mu 2
2

1
So EK  EP  mu 2
2

1 2 1
mv  mgh  mu 2 (rearrange for v 2 then substitute into equ 1)
2 2

mv 2  2mgh  mu 2

v 2  2 gh  u 2

v 2  u 2  2 gh

v 2  u 2  2 gl (1  cos  ) (sub into equ 1)

m 2
T  mg cos   (u  2 gl (1  cos  ))
l

m 2
T  mg cos   u  2mg (1  cos  )
l

m 2
T  mg cos   u  2mg  2mg cos 
l

m 2
T u  2mg  3mg cos 
l

mu 2
Giving T   mg 3 cos   2
l

Now the particle will execute full circles as long as T  0 when    (i.e. the string
does not go slack)

14
mu 2
 mg 3 cos   2   0
l

u 2  lg( 3 cos   2)  0

u 2  lg( 3  2)  0

u 2  5 lg

u  5 lg

Therefore the speed u required at the lowest point to execute full circles is u  5 lg

3 conditions to consider

1. If the speed u m/s is such that the

particle reaches an angle where

  , then the particle will simply
2 T O
oscillate back and forwards while 
energy is being conserved .

2. If the speed u m/s is such that the

particle reaches an angle where

    as the tension T = 0, T
2
then the string will go slack and the O
particle will become a projectile. 

Note that the particle will have

a tangential velocity which
will become the initial velocity
for the subsequent projectile motion. u

3. If the speed u m/s is such that

   when T  0 , then the
particle will complete full T
circuits.

O

15
u
Example 6

A man of mass 95kg hold onto the end of a light rope which is 3m long. He pulls
himself back through an angle of 60 and pushes off with a tangential speed of 4 m/s
to form a vertical circle.

a) what is his speed at the lowest point?

b) how high will he rise on the other side from the lowest point?

solution

h  r  r cos 

h  3  3 cos 60

h  1.5 m

total energy

1
ET  mgh  mv 2
2

1
ET  95  9.8 1.5   95  42
2

ET  2156.5 J

at lowest point the kinetic energy will be at its maximum

1
EK (max)  mv 2  2156 .5
2

2  2156 .5
v2 
95

v  6.74 m/s

b) all of this energy will be coverted to potential energy as the man reaches his
max height on the other side

EP (max)  mgh  2156 .5

95  9.8  h  2156 .5

h  2.32 m (above the lowest point)

16
Example 7

A mass is attached to the end of a string of length 70cm, with the mass hanging at rest
at its lowest point. If we know that in order for the mass to complete a full circuit
(circle) it requires an initial speed of 5.86 m/s at the lowest point, find the angle from
the downward vertical reached by the mass if the initial speed is

a) 3 m/s (angle less than 90o)

b) 5 m/s (angle obtuse)

solution


a) when u = 3 m/s and   using conservation of energy
2

1 2
mv  mgh
2

1
m  32  m  9.8  h
2

h  0.459 m

cos   (0.7  0.459 ) / 0.7

  70.0

so mass reaches 70.0o then swings ‘to and fro’

b) prove from first principles the equation on page 14.

mu 2
T  mg 3 cos   2
l

when u = 5 m/s and T = 0

52
0  9.8  3 cos   2
0.7

3 cos   2   1250
343

 1250 
cos      2  3
 343 

  123 .2 so mass reaches 123.2o then behaves like a projectile

17
Exercise 3

1. A stone of mass 0.4kg is tied firmly to one end of a rope, then the stone is
whirled around in a vertical circle of radius 0.6m at a steady speed of 8 turns per
second. Calculate

a) the centripetal acceleration of the stone.

b) the maximum and minimum tensions in the rope.

2. A conker on the end of a string of length 0.5m is swung so that it just performs
vertical circles. What is the speed at the top of the circle?

3. An aircraft of mass 30 tonnes is flying in a vertical circle of radius 800m at a

speed of 200 m/s.

a) what is the acceleration at the top of the circle?

b) what is the reaction between the 70kg pilot and his seat at the top and the
bottom of the circle, if he is not wearing a harness?

4. A gymnast swings in a vertical circle. She has a mass of 40kg which can be
modelled by a single particle 0.9m from the bar. Calculate the tension in each of
her arms given that her angular velocity at the top of the circle is

a) 0.4 rad/s

b) 1 rad/s

If her angular velocity was 5 rad/s at the bottom of her swing, find

c) the tension in each of her arms.

5. Tarzan, who’s mass is 80kg, is standing in a tree 15m above the ground and is
holding a rope of length 10m, which is attached to a high branch of another tree
at a height of 5m above him. Keeping the rope taut, he jumps off the branch with
a speed of 2 m/s.

a) with what speed will he reach the lowest point in his swing?

b) what is the tension in the rope at that point?

c) how high above the ground will he reach on the other side?

18
6. A child of mass 25kg is seated on a swing, the ropes of which are 2m long. She
is pulled back by her parents through an angle of 40 and pushed off with a
speed of 2 m/s.

a) what is her speed at the lowest point?

b) how high will she rise, from the lowest point, on the other side?

7. The bob of a pendulum of length 4m is allowed to fall from rest from a point on
the same horizontal level as the point of suspension and 2m away from it. Find

a) the velocity that it begins to move in a vertical circle once the string
becomes taut.

b) the height to which is subsequently rises from its lowest point.

8. A particle moves under constant gravity in a vertical circle on the inside of a

smooth cylinder of radius 0.5m, the axis of symmetry being horizontal.

a) Show that the particle can execute full circuits provided that its
5g
speed at the lowest point on the cylinder is . (8)
2

b) If the particle is projected from the lowest point on the cylinder with
a speed of 2 g m/s, show that it will leave the surface of the cylinder
2
at point P such that cos AOP  , where O is the centre of the
3
cylinder and A is the highest point on the cylinder. (2)

c) Find the greatest vertical height, above the lowest point on the
cylinder, that the particle reaches in its subsequent motion. (5)

9. A bead of mass 100g is threaded on a smooth wire which forms a vertical circle
of radius 0.5m. The bead is initially at the lowest point on the wire. If we know
that in order to make complete circuits an initial speed of 5 m/s is required,
describe the subsequent motion of the bead if it is given an initial speed of

a) 2 m/s

b) 4 m/s

[Hint: use equation for T = … on page 14]

19
10. The diagram below shows a smooth plastic track. The section PQ is horizontal
and the section QR is semi-circular and in the same plane as PQ.
The diameter QR is vertical and has length 2a metres.

2a


P S Q

A toy car is projected along PQ with a speed of 3 ga m/s. The car travels
around the track to R, where it leaves the track horizontally landing on PQ at the
point S, where the angle between the car’s trajectory and the line SQ is   .

a) Find the speed of the car at R, expressing you answer in the

form kga , where k is a constant. (3)

b) Show that at R the car is in contact with the track. (2)

c) Show that SQ = 2 5a metres. (3)

d) Find the exact value of tan   . (2)

11. A mass m kg is attached to one end, A, of a light inextensible string of length L

metres, the other end of which is fixed at a point O. Initially the mass hangs
vertically below O with the string taut. The mass is then given a horizontal

7
speed of gL m/s, causing it to start to travel in a vertical circle of centre O.
2
Subsequently, the string OA makes an angle  with the downward vertical
through O.

a) When   45 , find an expression for:

(i) the speed of the mass in terms of L and g; (4)

(ii) the magnitude of the tension in the string, in terms of m and g. (3)

b) Determine the value of  at which the string becomes slack. (4)

20
Answers 1

1. 1.02 m/s 8.34 m/s2 2. 251.3 rad/s

3. 29687 m/s 0.00591 m/s2

4. 0.00262 rad/s 5. 62 rad/s

6. min = 16.23 m/s max = 23.77 m/s

7. small pulley = 50 rad/s large pulley = 25 rad/s

8. 15 rad/s

Answers 2

1. a) 3.66 N b) 22.3 m/s2 c) 6.4 m/s

2. a) 0.27 N b) 57.0 3. 6.8cm

4. a) 2cm b) 22.0 rad/s

5. a) 26.13 N b) 20.8 rad/s

6. a) 103.4 m/s b) 1.04 MN

7. 18.9 m/s 8. 17.0 9. 21.4

10. a) 26.7 rpm b) 1.22m, 2.03m

11. a) 11.53 b) 34.48 m/s

Answers 3

1. a) 1516.2 m/s2 b) Tmin = 602.6 N, Tmax = 610.4 N

2. 2.21 m/s

3. a) 50 m/s2 b) 4186 N, 2814 N

4. a) - 193.1 N (compression) b) - 178 N (compression) c) 646 N

5. a) 10.10 m/s b) 1600 N c) 15.20m

6. a) 3.63 m/s b) 0.67m

7. a) 8.24 m/s b) H = 4.0m (same height if no loss in kinetic energy)

8. a) proof b) proof c) 0.93m

21
9. a) Bead will oscillate backwards and forwards to an angle of 53.7

b) Bead will oscillate backwards and forwards to an angle of 129 .2

4
10. a) 5 ga b) proof c) proof d) tan  
5

3
2

11. a) (i) v    2  Lg

(ii) T 
3
2
 
2  1 mg b) 120o

22