Gicale, Patrick Emmanuel T.

PHY10L B5
Prof. Rayda B. Gammag

DOP: December 4, 2015

DOS: December 11, 2015

Guide Questions:
1. When the radius and mass are held constant, what do you expect to happen to the
centripetal force if the frequency of rotation is increased?
- Since the equation of centripetal force is (F = m422 r), wherein is the frequency of
rotation, and the radius and mass are constant, it will still imply that centripetal force
will increase.
2. What will happen if the centripetal force apparatus was set up slightly off the
horizontal?
- It will affect the centripetal force because it will have an additional horizontal force
since it is inclined which implies an increase to centripetal acceleration.
Problems
1. A ball rotates in a horizontal circle at a constant speed of 10 m/s. What are the
tensions in the upper and lower strings? The mass of the ball is 3kg.

2. What angle of a bank is necessary for a car to make it around a 130m curve at a speed
of 60kph without relying on friction?

3. Determine the speed of the satellite orbiting at a height of 700 km above the Earths
surface.

Remarks:
The experiment is subdivided into three parts, first is the determination of
centripetal force with variable radius of rotation, determination of centripetal force with
constant radius and variable mass of rotating body and determination of mass of rotating
body with constant radius and variable force.
In the first part of the experiment, we determine the centripetal force of the
rotating body with a given radius. With the gained results, we observed that period
increases as the radius increases. Consequently, frequency decreases as the radius
increases. This implies that radius is directly proportional to period but inversely
proportional to frequency.
In the second part of the experiment, we determine the centripetal force with a
constant radius and a given mass of rotating body. With the gathered results, we observed
that the period increases as the mass of the rotating body increases but its frequency
decreases. This implies that mass is directly proportional to period but inversely
proportional to frequency.
Lastly, the third part of the experiment, we determine the mass of the rotating body
with constant radius and given force. From the gathered data, experimental values of the
mass of rotating body is almost the same with the actual mass of rotating body having in
mind that the centripetal forces vary. Also, as the centripetal forces vary, the frequency
also varies and will cancel out the effect of varying the force. Therefore, it will not affect
the value of the mass of the rotating body.
Conclusion:
Uniform circular motion can be described as the motion of an object in a circle at a
constant speed. As an object moves in a circle, it is constantly changing its direction. At
all instances, the object is moving tangent to the circle. In a uniform circular motion,
theres a force acting upon making it move in a circular manner which is the centripetal
force.
A centripetal force is a force that makes a body follow a curved path. Its direction
is always orthogonal to the motion of the body and towards the fixed point of the
instantaneous center of curvature of the path. Without a centripetal force, the object in
motion will definitely move in a straight path.
In a uniform circular motion, it may seem called as uniform motion for it doesnt
have an acceleration but it does have and that is centripetal acceleration. Centripetal
Acceleration is the rate of change of tangential velocity. This acceleration always directed
to the center of the curvature of the path.