Reading Guide – Chapter 6 Circular Motion, Orbits, and Gravity
6.1 Uniform Circular Motion
1. A particle moving in a circle has an acceleration even through it has constant speed because
2. How is the angular position of a particle measured?
3. How do you know if θ should be positive or negative?
4. What unit is θ measured in?
5. If you want to calculate the arc length (distance a particle travels along its circular path) in meters, how can you
convert from radians to meters?
6. What is the conversion between revolutions, radians, and degrees?
7. Angular velocity is similar to linear velocity. What is the formula for angular velocity?
8. Angular velocity is __________________ for a particle moving with uniform circular motion
9. How do you determine if ω is positive or negative?
10. What can be determined from the slope of an angular position vs time graph?
Do stop to think 6.1
6.2 Speed, Velocity, and Acceleration in Uniform Circular Motion
11. What is the relationship between linear velocity and angular velocity?
12. The acceleration we use with circular motion is centripetal acceleration. What is the formula for centripetal
acceleration? What is the direction for centripetal acceleration always?
Do stop to think 6.2
6.3 Dynamics of Uniform Circular Motion
13. What is the net force acting on a particle traveling is a circle equal to?
14. Without the net force the particle would move how?
15. How can the maximum velocity be determined for a car going around an unbanked curve?
Do stop to think 6.3
6.4 Apparent forces in Circular Motion
16. When traveling in a vertical circle like in a loop on a roller coaster, you feel heaviest when? You feel lightest when?
17. What occurs at critical speed?
Do stop to think 6.4
6.5 Circular Orbits and Weightlessness
18. If the launch speed of a projectile is sufficiently large, there comes a point where the curve of the trajectory matches
the ____________________________________________. In this case, the projectile falls but _____________________
_________________________________
19. The projectile returns to the point from which it was launched, at the same speed at which it was launched, making
it a closed trajectory. This is called an ______________________
20. An orbiting projectile is in ________________________________
21. Weightlessness does not occur from an absence of weight. It occurs why?
6.6 Newton’s Law of Gravity
22. State the formula for Newton’s Law of gravity
23. How does doubling the distance between two objects affect the force between them?
Do stop to think 6.5
6.7 Gravity and Orbits
24. State the formula for the speed of a satellite
25. The square of the period of the orbit of a satellite is proportional to _______________________________________
Do stop to think 6.6