ANALYSIS

Physics is not all about Forces, Kinematics, Motions, and Friction.

The last topic for this term is all about the Uniform Circular Motion. Centripetal
Force is a force that makes a body follow a curved path, its direction is always
orthogonal to the velocity of the body, toward the fixed point of the instantaneous
center of curvature of the path. Centripetal force is generally the cause of circular
motion. In simple terms, centripetal force is defined as a force which keeps a body
moving with a uniform speed along a circular path and is directed along the radius
towards the center. The mathematical description was derived in 1659 by Dutch
physicist Christian Huygens. Isaac Newton's description was: "A centripetal force
is that by which bodies are drawn or impelled, or in any way tend, towards a point
as to a center. Centripetal force is a force that tends to deflect an object moving in
a straight path and compels it to move in a circular path. Centripetal force is just a
label to represent the unbalanced force experienced by the body every time it
moves in a circular fashion. Newtons Second Law of Motion is used to measure
the magnitude of the centripetal force.
Centripetal Force is a force that tends to deflect an object moving in a
straight path and compels it to move in a circular path. Centripetal Force is just a
label to represent the unbalanced force experienced by the body every time it
moves in a circular fashion. Newtons Second Law of Motion is used to measure
the magnitude of the centripetal force.
From Newtons Second Law,
Fnet =ma

Fnet

is the unbalanced force, the mass of the body is denoted by m and a is

the acceleration. In the case of bodies moving in a circular path, Fnet is the
centripetal force, and ac is the centripetal acceleration. The magnitude of the
centripetal acceleration is given by the expression,
v v2
ac =
=
t r

As t approaches zero, the instantaneous acceleration is

ac lim

t 0

v dv v 2
= =
t dt r

Thus, the centripetal force in terms of tangential velocity is expressed as,

Fc =

m v2
r

In terms of angular velocity, ( v=r) ,

Fc =mr

In terms of frequency of rotation, f (=2 f ) ,

Fc =m 4 2 f 2 r

Before experiment we are asked to take extra care to then given super pulley
and the spring to avoid the damages.
The materials that we need are 1 set of a rotating platform, a piece of a
clamp-on pulley, 1 set of weights, 1 mass hanger, and 1 stopwatch.

The first part of our experiment is the determination of centripetal force

where variable radius of rotation is not constant. We first recorded the weight of
the rotating body. We then created a constant centripetal force by hanging a known
mass over the clamp-on pulley. We then initially set the radius at 16cm. We then
adjusted the spring so that the string connected to the rotating body is in a vertical
orientation. We then moved the bracket with the orange indicator up or down
located on the center post. We then removed the mass hanging over the pulley. We
then gently rotated the apparatus. We tried to center the orange indicator to the
indicator bracket. We then slid the post to a new radius. We then recorded the
centripetal force using this equation:
2 2

Fc =m 4 f r

x 100
AV + EV
2
Percent Difference=

AV EV

We recorded the time to complete 10 revolutions using the stop watch. The
result of our experiment are:
Table 1. Determination of Centripetal Force (variable radius of rotation)
Mass of rotating body, M
= 209.4 grams
2
(mass hanging + mass of pan)x980 cm/s
= 49,000 dynes
Actual value of centripetal force
FREQUENCY
CENTRIPETAL
TRIA RADIUS OF PERIOD OF
ROTATION ROTATION OF ROTATION, f
FORCE
L
r
T
Fc
1
16 cm
1.50 s
0.65 rev/s
55,883.44 dynes
2
17 cm
1.67 s
0.60 rev/s
50,974.70 dynes
3
19 cm
1.70 s
0.59 rev/s
51,797.99 dynes
4
19 cm
1.82 s
0.55 rev/s
47,513.32 dynes
5
20 cm
1.92 s
0.52 rev/s
44,706.75 dynes
Centripetal Force (Average) 50,098.84 dynes
Percent Difference 2.22%
For the second part of the experiment, we find the determination of
centripetal force with a constant radius and variable mass of rotation body. We first
weighed the rotating body and recorded it. We then created a constant centripetal
force by hanging a known mass over the clamp-on pulley. We then adjust the
spring bracket up or down to make sure that the string connecting the rotating body
is in vertical orientation. We then repeated the other steps from part first part. The
results of our experiments are:

Table 2. Determination of Centripetal Force

(constant radius and variable mass of rotating body)

Radius of Rotation, r
= 16 cm
2
(mass hanging + mass of pan)x980 cm/s
= 49000 dynes
Actual value of centripetal force
MASS OR
PERIOD OF
FREQUENCY
TRIA
ROTATING
ROTATION
OF ROTATION,
L
T
BODY, m
f
1
209.40 grams 1.586 s
0.6300 rev/s
2
157.85 grams 1.450 s
0.6897 rev/s
3
106.75 grams 1.245 s
0.8050 rev/s
Centripetal Force (Average)
47,874.07 dynes
Percent Difference
2.3245%

CENTRIPETAL
FORCE
Fc
52,497.36 dynes
47,429.09 dynes
43,695.77 dynes

The third part of the experiment is the determination of mass of rotating the
body with variable forces. We first again weighed the weighing scale then recorded
it. We then hanged a known mass over the clamp-on pulley. We then set the radius.
We then adjusted the spring bracket. We then repeated the other steps from both the
first and second part. We then computed the mass of the rotating body using this
equation:
m=

Fc
4 2 f 2 r

The result of our experiments are:

Table 3.

Determination of Mass of Rotating Body

(constant radius and variable force)

Radius of Rotation, r
= 16 cm
Mass of rotating body
= 209.4 grams
Actual value
TRIAL (MASS HANGING + PERIOD OF
MASS OF PAN) x 980 ROTATION
cm/s2
T
CENTRIPETAL
FORCE

1
2
3
4
5

9800 dynes
2.31 s
14700 dynes
2.56 s
19600 dynes
2.74 s
24500 dynes
2.93 s
29400 dynes
3.05 s
Mass of rotating body (Average)
Percent Difference

FREQUENCY
OF ROTATION,
f
0.433 rev/s
0.390 rev/s
0.365 rev/s
0.341 rev/s
0.328 rev/s
246.836 grams
16.22%

MASS OR
ROTATING
BODY,(EXP.
VALUE) m

82.750 grams
152.52 grams
232.96 grams
332.98 grams
432.97 grams

CONCLUSION

To quantify the centripetal force on the body when one of the parameters is
held constant we will refer to the first part and second part of the experiment. In
the first part where to constant is the mass and the radius of ration changes, we first

created a centripetal forces using the clamp-on pulley. We then initially set the
radius by 16cm, we then increased it by 1cm each trial. We then recorded for each
period of rotation using the stopwatch. We then computed the centripetal forces
using the formula

Fc =m 4 2 f 2 r

. We got an average of centripetal force of

50,098.84 dynes with a 2.22% percent difference. For the second part where the
radius is now constant but the mass of rotating body is not. What we did was to do
same procedure as the first part but instead of adjusting the radius, we made it
constant. Then we removed first the front part of the mass of rotating body, and
then finally the second part of the rotating body. We used the same formula for
2 2
centripetal force for this second part which is , Fc =m 4 f r . We got an average

centripetal force of 47,874.07 dynes with a percent difference of 2.32%.

To verify the effects of varying the factors involved in circular motion, we

first learned that there is an inverse relationship between the frequency and radius,
and frequency and the mass of the rotating body. We also learned that there is a
direct relationship between the frequency and centripetal force. We also learned
that as radius increase, the frequency could decrease. We can verify this by looking
at the experiment. We learned from the first part that as the radius increases the
frequency decreases. From the second part, we verified that as the mass of the
rotating body increases, the frequency also decreases.