UNIFORM CIRCULAR

MOTION
ANURAG SHARMA

While moving in a circle a

body has two velocities:
1.
Linear
velocity,
v
measured by length of arc
traversed
in
time
t,
tangentially oriented to the
path at
each point
2. Angular velocity, ,
measured as rate of change
of angle. Direction of is
into the paper if body
moves clockwise and out of
the paper if body moves
anticlockwise.
Remember
all clocks are negative.

Body

moves from A to B
and the arc AB subtends
an angle . Then,
= radians

Radian is a unit of measure for angles just like degree is a

unit.
One radian is the angle made at the center of a circle by
an arcwhose length is equal to the radius of the circle.
=

Also, if body
completes one
revolution,
=

thecircumferenceof a circle is 2R, so that means

there are 2, or roughly 6.28 radians in a full circle.
Because a full circle is also exactly 360, each radian
comes out to approximately 57.296

30
45
60
90
180
270
360

Exact
radians

Approxim
ate
radians

/6
/4
/3
/2

3/2
2

0.52
0.785
1.048
1.57
3.142
4.71
6.28

radian is defined by anarcof a circle. The

length of the arc is equal to theradiusof the
circle. Because of this the radian is a fixed size
no matter what the size of the circle is.
Also, since = is a ratio of two lengths, radian
is just a number

By definition of angular velocity,

= radians/second,
------------------- (1)

where t is the time taken by the object

moving through angle , from A to B
Also, if length of arc AB is s then, --------(2)
From (1) & (2) we have :
x =
, by definition s/t is linear
velocity, v

This implies with constant , v will

increase if radius r increases. This is what
happens in a merry go round. You turn
with the same angular speed regardless
of your distance from the center, but your
linear velocity increases noticeably if you
move to the outside edge of the merry go
round.

Who has greater linear

velocity, girl sitting at the
edge of the merry go round
or the girl sitting at the
center of the merry go
round

Centripetal acceleration
The velocity is always directed
tangent to the circle in the direction
of motion. The acceleration is always
directed radially inward.
Because of this, the acceleration
associated with uniform circular
motion is called a centripetal
(meaning
centre
seeking)
acceleration. During this acceleration
at constant speed, the particle travels
the circumference of the circle (a
distance of 2r) in time (period) T.

Deriving formula for Centripetal Acceleration

While moving in a circular path,
an object is constantly being
pulled "towards the centre" of the
circle away from its tangential
path.
In a certain amount of time, t,
the object would move from
position A at time t1 where its
velocity is vo to position B at time
t2 where its velocity is vf.

Note that the magnitude of vf

equals that of vo since we are
only changing the direction of the
velocity, not the object's speed

The vector equation reads vo + v =

vf
vf is the resultant vector since vf
starts at the beginning of the vector
vo and terminates at the end of the
vector v. Vector v points to the
centre of the circle reflecting that the
acceleration is also directed towards

In the time interval t, the object

moving from point A to point B in an
arc of length s, also moves through
an angle . Note that as t 0, the
length of the arc, s, would approach
the length of the chord, c.
Since vo and vf are both tangential
velocities, they are perpendicular to
their respective radii.
Also, since OACB is a quadrilateral,
the sum of its interior angles must
equal 360.

A = B = 90
ACB + = 180
ACB + BCD = 180 (supplementary
angles)
Therefore BCD = .

VELOCITY TRIANGLE

DISPLACEMENT TRIANGLE

A comparison of corresponding parts of these two

similar isosceles triangles yields

Where |-vo| = |vf| = v. In a small time interval t , the arc

length s c. And since we also know that distance = rate *
time, we can replace the length of the chord, c, with the
expression s = v x t which results in

Centripetal acceleration, a
=
For an object traveling with a constant speed we may use the
relationship d = rt. For a circular path, d equals the
circumference, C = 2r and t equals the time for one revolution,
or the period, T

And Centripetal
acceleration,
Uniform circular motion requires that the object MUST
move at a constant speed; therefore it can only move in a
horizontal circle - that is, one in which gravity is always
perpendicular to the object's tangential velocity. When
moving in vertical circles, the objects speed is always changing
and the object is not considered to be moving in uniform circular