Circular Motion Review Sheet
1. Which of the following is the best description of the force keeping the ball in the circular
path?
The diagram below represents a ball of mass M attached to a string. The ball moves at a
constant speed around a flat, horizontal circle of radius R. Use this information and the
diagram to answer any questions that follow.
2. Describe the magnitude and direction of the ball as either constant or changing.
3. What letter is the direction of the centripetal force located?
4. If the velocity of the ball is tripled, by what factor does centripetal acceleration increase?
A convertible car with its top down is traveling at constant speed around a circular track, as
shown in the diagram below.
5. When the car is at point Q, a passenger throws a ball straight up. Draw a point could the
ball land?
6. If the string broke at point X, draw the motion that would follow from the square.
7. Two objects are moved apart so that they are separated by two times their original
distance of separation. Compared to the magnitude of the original gravitational force
between them, what is the magnitude of the new gravitational force?
8. The distance between two point masses is D. The gravitational force of attraction
between them can be quadrupled by changing the distance to what expression?
The diagram represents an object traveling clockwise in a horizontal, circular path at constant
speed.
9. What is the direction of the centripetal acceleration of the object at its current location?
10. What does centripetal mean? (pg. 227)
11. What is the centripetal acceleration of a ball traveling at 7.0 meters per second in a circle
of radius 12.0 meters?
12. An object travels in a circular orbit. If the speed of the object is doubled, what happens to
its centripetal acceleration?
The diagram represents two satellites, A and B, moving in circular orbits around a planet.
The satellites have equal masses.
13. What is FBP, the magnitude of the gravitational force of attraction between satellite B and
the planet, in terms of FAP, the gravitational force of attraction between satellite A and the
planet?
14. The distance between a spaceship and the center of Earth is increased from one Earth
radius to 4 Earth radii. How is the gravitational force acting on the spaceship affected?
15. Two objects with equal masses are a fixed distance apart. If the mass of each object were
to be tripled, what would happen to the magnitude of the gravitational force between
them?
16. A physics student attaches a 0.50 kg mass to one end of a massless rope. The mass is
then swung in a horizontal circle around the student's head. If the radius of the circle is
2.0 m and the mass moves at a constant speed of 2.0 m/s, what will be the centripetal
force acting on the mass?
17. A diver, whose weight is 370 N, is on a diving board 5.0 m above the water. How much
gravitational potential energy (with respect to the surface of the water) does the diver
have?
18. A motorcycle and driver with a combined mass of 295 kg turn in a circular drive with a
radius of 25 m. If traveling at a speed of 9.0 m/s, what is the centripetal force acting on
the motorcycle and driver?
19. There is a distance of 2 m between the centers of two identical spheres, each with a mass
of 30 kg. What is the magnitude of the gravitational force that one sphere exerts on the
other?
20. Two objects, A and B, are separated by a distance R. Object A exerts a gravitational
force, F, on object B. What is the new gravitational force exerted if the mass of object A
is tripled and the distance R is doubled?
The diagram shows a simple pendulum that is released from rest at position 5.
21. Describe the centripetal force at position 2.
22. A 2.0-kilogram stone, attached to the end of a 0.50-meter string, is traveling in a circular
path at a speed of 5.0 meters per second. What is the magnitude of the centripetal
acceleration?
23. A child is sitting on the edge of a merry-go-round with a radius of 4.3 meters. The child
is moving at a uniform speed of 6.7 meters per second. What is the magnitude of the
child's centripetal acceleration?
24. Centripetal force, F, acts on a car traveling around a curve. If the speed of the car is
tripled and it continues along the same path, what will be the new value for the
centripetal force?
25. A go-kart is travelling at a constant speed of 13.8 meters per second around a horizontal
circular track with a radius of 42.0 meters. The combined mass of the go-kart and the
driver is 178 kilograms. What is the magnitude of the centripetal force acting on this
combined mass?