Centripetal Force and Projectile
Motion
The Role of Gravity in Orbiting
• How does gravity affect orbiting?
– Gravity provides a centripetal force that keeps
things moving in a circle
– Centripetal force: the unbalanced force that
causes objects moving in a circular path
Projectile Motion and Gravity
• Projectile motion- The curved path an object
follows when thrown or propelled near the
surface of the earth
– Projectile motion has 2 components
– Horizontal
– Vertical
– When these are combined, they form a curved
path
• A football being
passed
• Balls being juggled
• An athlete doing a
high jump
• Water sprayed by a
sprinkler
• A swimmer diving
into water
• A leaping frog