Circular Motion Practice Problems - Solutions 1.

You are throwing a surprise birthday party and for some reason you decide to put balloons on a ceiling fan (which has fan blades of diameter 0.5m). There is a green balloon which is taped directly to a fan blade and a white balloon is attached to a 0.3m string which is taped to the opposite fan blade. a. Which balloon has a greater revolutional speed when the fan is off? neither, same revolutional speed b. Which balloon has a greater revolutional speed when the fan is on? neither, same revolutional speed c. Which balloon has a greater tangential velocity when the fan is on? the white balloon d. What are the revolutional speeds of each balloon when the fan is on and each blade goes around 15 times every 4 seconds? w = 15/4 = 3.75 RPS for each balloon e. If the fan is spinning at the above revolutional speed, what are the tangential velocities of each balloon? vt = 2 *r*w green balloon vt = 11.78 m/s white balloon vt = 18.85 m/s f. If you decide the fan is not decorated enough and you tape a blue balloon halfway to the edge of the fan blade, what are the revolutional speed and tangential velocity of the blue balloon? w = 3.75 RPS vt = 5.89 (= 11.78/2) g. If the tape holding the green balloon on the fan blade loses its stickiness and the balloon flies free, describe the path the balloon will take. The balloon will fly off tangent to its circular path at a velocity of 11.78 m/s. 2. A pigeon is flying in a circle around a statue in New Yorks Central Park waiting for the tourists to leave before landing. The bird flies in a circle with a 7m radius every 10s. a. What is the linear speed of the pigeon? w = 1 / 10 = 0.1 RPS

vt = 2 *r*w = 2 *7*0.1 = 4.4 m/s b. What is the centripetal force keeping the 3kg bird flying in its circle? Fc = mv2/r = 4 2mrw2 = 4 2*3*7*0.12 = 8.29 N c. If another bird flies into the area and our pigeon decides to fly in a smaller circle half the radius of the original one and requiring the same centripetal force, what are the revolutional speed and tangential velocity? 2 8.29 = 4 *3*3.5*w2, w = 0.1414 RPS, vt = 2 *3.5*0.1414 = 3.11 m/s 3. While answering the following questions, consider the Earth as a whole. a. What region(s) of the Earth have the greatest linear/tangential velocity? Those at the equator b. What region(s) of the Earth have the smallest linear/tangential velocity? Those at the north and south poles c. Compare the revolutional speeds of the two regions above. They must be the same because the Earth is solid and all parts of it must rotate together. 4. A typical Ferris wheel has a radius of about 7m. a. If the ride takes 20s to make a full revolution, what is the linear speed of the Ferris wheel? w = 1/20 = 0.05 RPS, vt = 2 *r*w = 2 *7*0.05 = 2.2 m/s b. What centripetal force does the ride exert on a 60kg person? Fc = 4 2*m*r*w2 = 4 2*60*7*(0.05)2 = 41.45 N 5. The Earth goes around the Sun once every 365.25days (3*107s) at an average distance of 1.5*1011m. The mass of the Earth is 6*1024kg. a. What is the centripetal force exerted on the Earth? w = 1/(3*107) = 3.33*10-8 RPS Fc = 4 2*6*1024*1.5*1011*(3.33*10-8)2 = 3.94*1022 N b. What is the tangential velocity of the Earth?

vt = 2 *r*w = 2 *1.5*1011*3.33*10-8 = 31,384.5 m/s c. Using the fact that the gravitational force is what supplies the centripetal force for orbiting objects, along with the formula for gravitational force, what is the mass of the sun? 3.94*1022 = FG = G*6*1024*MSUN/(1.5*1011)2 MSUN = 3.94*1022*(1.5*1011)2/(G*6*1024) = 2.2*1030 kg d. What happens to the centripetal force if the tangential velocity of the Earth is doubled? The force is quadrupled. e. What happens to the centripetal force if instead the radius is doubled? The force is doubled. f. What happens to the centripetal force if instead the mass is tripled? The force is tripled.