UNIFORM CIRCULAR

MOTION LAB REPORT

GENERAL PHYSICS - 1101
MS.SUSANA ALULOD

YANIN GASEMSIN
PHUTTINAN CHANTAPRAM
BHARADEE LIMVIRIYAKUL

2020
 INTRODUCTION
In this experiment, we focus on the circular
motion theory. From this experiment, we can have
more understanding about centripetal acceleration in
it. Circular motion is the movement of an object at
constant speed around a circle with a fixed radius. The
acceleration of an object in circular motion called
centripetal acceleration (ac). centripetal acceleration is
equal to square of speed (or velocity) divided with the
radius of motion. It also has a net force which moves
toward the center of the motion is called centripetal
force.  We can apply Newton’s second law by using
Fnet = ac x m, where m is a mass of an object.
As the objective is to learn the forces involved in
the motion of a body moving with constant speed in
circular path, We have to swing a heavy glass ball
connected with the rope and metal disks and swing it
to create circular motion. We also have the changing of
weight of the disks and radius to see the variety of data.
If the circular motion has large radius then, the
centripetal acceleration will be decreased followed by
the formula of centripetal acceleration. The radius will
divide with the speed.

OBJECTIVE
In this experiment, our main purpose or objective
is to study the forces involved in the motion of a
body moving with constant speed in a circular
path or in uniform circular motion.

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MATERIALS

GLASS BALL
attach to one end of the
rope

STRAW*
act as rope holder

METAL DISC
attach to one end of the
rope

ROPE or STRING
attach to the weight and
glass ball

* In the real experiment,

we should use a hard
plastic straw, but it ran
out, so we needed to use
WEIGHT HANGER
a normal straw. hang the metal discs for
weight
02
PROCEDURES
1) measure the mass (m) of the metal disk
2) pass the string through the tube and
attach the disk on the top of the tube
3) hang a hooked mass (M) of 175 g on the
other end of the string
4) hold the tube vertical and swing the disk
in a circular path in a horizontal plane
5) adjust the speed of rotation of the disk
and the radius so that the hooked mass is
just supported by the string
6) start the motion with the tube at arm's
length and above the head
7) count and record the number of
revolution in 30 seconds
8) gasp the string at the bottom of the tube
to mark the position of the string while the
disk is moving. Measure the distance (r)
from the top of the tube to the center of the
disk
9) change the radius of rotation. Use smaller
or larger value.
10) Repeats steps 3-9 using hooked mass of
200g

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RESULTS

CALCULATION

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CALCULATION

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 CALCULATION

ANALYSIS
From the result, the first trial that we tried using 175 g. and swing
for 30 seconds, we got 114 times of the swinging with the radius of 57
centimeters. This result in the total velocity of 1,360.9 cm/s, centripetal
force of 162,469.5 Dyne, and centripetal acceleration of 32,492.1 cm/s2.
For the second trial, we used smaller radius which is 33 centimeters,
and we got 142 times swung which result in the velocity of 981.4 cm/s,
centripetal force of 145,931.2 Dyne and centripetal acceleration of
29,186.2 cm/s2. The third trial and the fourth trial, we increased the
weight of the hooked mass to 200 g. For the third trial, the radius was
larger which was 51 centimeters, and we swung the rope 126 times.
The result of the velocity was 1,345.9 cm/s, centripetal force was
177,581.8 Dyne, and the centripetal acceleration was 35,471.1 cm/s2. The
last trial, we tried with smaller radius which was 36 centimeters, and
the result we got was 1,115.9 cm/s, 172,947 Dyne, and 34,589.5 cm/s2 for
velocity, centripetal force and centripetal acceleration by order.
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 From the experiment, we can observe that the longer the radius
is, the more velocity the object has because from the result, the
longest radius give the fastest velocity following by second fastest
and then others. And, more radius also gives more force and
acceleration. However, in the real equation, the radius is indirectly
proportional to the velocity. Due to the parallax of counting and the
straw, we got the result that did not agree with the formula.
We can also observe that faster velocity gives more centripetal
force, but it also depends on the mass of the object and the radius.
As velocity is also directly proportional to the centripetal force, the
more velocity it has, the more centripetal force it produces.
The velocity is also directly proportional to centripetal
acceleration, so if the velocity increases, the centripetal acceleration
also increases as also can be observed from the equation of
calculating centripetal force.
We can observe the direction of the force we exerted on the ball
is direct toward the center of the circular path as well as the
centripetal acceleration. In addition, the direction of the velocity is
tangent to the circumference or the radius of the circular motion is
our experiment, so if the string breaks, the object will move in a
straight line depending on the velocity and its direction.

CONCLUSION
From this experiment, the radius, the velocity, the mass,
and the force are all related to the uniform circular motion.
The radius is directly proportional to the velocity, but is
indirectly proportional to the centripetal force and centripetal
acceleration. Also, the velocity is directly proportional to
centripetal force and centripetal acceleration. Lastly, the
direction of both force and acceleration point toward the
center of the circular motion, but the direction of the velocity
is tangent to the object's path.
08
RECOMMENDATION
As the tube ran out when we
were taking the experiment, we
used the straw instead of it. Thus,
for more accurate results, we should
use the real tube, because it's not
easy to break like the straw and
doesn't make the angle of the rope
and the force exerted by the hand
change. Also, we have to look at the
angle of the tube when we spin the
metal disk around too. Sometimes it might not be the right angle
between the hand and the rope. Moreover, we also had errors in
counting the times that the ball was swung because the ball swung
very fast. We also did not use constant forces to swing the ball, so
there are a lot of errors in the result.
For the next experiment, we should use a more proper tube so
the result would be free of parallax, and also, we should use a
counter to count the times swung, so it would me more accurate.

REFERENCE
- Powerpoint
- https://www.khanacademy.org/science/ap-physics-1/ap-
centripetal-force-and-gravitation/introduction-to-uniform-circular-
motion-ap/a/circular-motion-basics-ap1
- https://www.khanacademy.org/science/ap-physics-1/ap-
centripetal-force-and-gravitation
- https://www.physicsclassroom.com/mmedia/circmot/ucm.cfm
- https://www.asc.ohio-state.edu/humanic.1/p111_lecture10.pdf

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 WORK LOG
19/1/19
              - Our group starts to separate the tasks
- Yanin is responsible for collect result, making an analysis
and conclusion part and merge everyone’s work
- Bharadee responsible for objective, set-up, procedure and
recommendation part
- Phuttinan responsible for introduction, material, reference
and work log part
              - Bharadee finished the tasks and sent to Namtip
20/1/19
              - Phuttinan finished the tasks and sent to Namtip
- Yanin starts working on the results and analysis
21/1/19
- Yanin starts writing conclusion
22/1/19
- Yanin puts the file together and finish writing analysis, results
and conclusion

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