[MUSIC] Okay, circular motion.

This course is called,

Particles to Planets. And we'll need circular motion for
planets and satellites, so we need some quite
important results that we'll derive here. So, concentrate, have your pencil and
paper ready, because you know,
you don't really understand until. All right, here we go. The marked section is
traveling in a circle. If the rotation rate is constant we
call it uniform circular motion, and we limit ourselves to that case today. Here
's a really important point,
even when its speed is constant, an object in circular
motion is accelerating. Acceleration is the rate
of change of velocity. Velocity is a vector, so a change in
direction in velocity is an acceleration. The velocity of this point is up,
across, down, back. Its velocity is changing,
so it is accelerating. We can make this clear using Newton
second law, which we'll meet next week. Force equals mass times acceleration. Su
ppose a ball hits a wall and re-bounce with the same speed, is there
an acceleration and is there a force? Let's see if I can feel the force. Ouch! B
ecause the time is short,
the acceleration is large and it's a large force. The ball is traveling in
a roughly horizontal circle, the forces on the ball are its weight and
the tension in the string. Look at the direction of the string which
is the direction of the tension force. This force has an upwards component
which balances the white, and the large horizontal component. This horizontal co
mponent provides
the acceleration which we'll soon see is toward the center. But to see that we'l
l need to
analyze uniform circular motion. Let's define some terms and symbols. r is the r
adius and capital T is
the period for one complete revolution. Omega is the angular speed, the change
in angle divided by the change in time. Delta theta over delta t. Omega is anoth
er greek letter. Make sure that you distinguish
omega from w in your handwriting. Make omega the round one,
and W the pointy one. Now, we go one full circle
in a period capital T. So omega equals 2 pi radians over T. Now, the speed, V,
is just one circumference in the time for one revolution. 2 pi r over T. So that
gives us v equal r omega. Now for the direction of the acceleration. The veloci
ty is the tangent to the circle. Let's say we have velocity v1 at some
time, and v2 a short time later. The change in velocity is
delta v equals v2 minus v1. Well, we saw how to do vector
subtraction in week one. This diagram shows how v1
plus delta v equals v2. It's uniform circular motion, constant speed, so
the velocity vectors have equal length. Look at the direction of delta v. If we
consider a very short time interval,
v1 and v2 would be nearly parallel. So the change in velocity would be
at right angles to the velocity. Velocity's tangential. So the acceleration is t
owards the center. We call it centripetal acceleration. So, the direction is ind
eed towards
the center, as we argued originally. If there were no string to provide
centripetal acceleration, the ball would stop traveling in a circle and become a
projectile, traveling in a vertical plane. Uniform circular motion,
the speed is constant, but the acceleration is at right
angles to the velocity so it accelerates sideways always changing
its direction so that it follows a circle. These diagrams can give us
the magnitude of the acceleration. Call the change in angle delta theta. From th
is small triangle and
the definition of angle, we have magnitude of the change in velocity,
delta v equals v delta theta. Then write the definition of acceleration. Delta v
over delta t for small change. We substitute using omega,
and we have a equals v omega. Previously, we also had v equals r omega,
so that gives us the magnitude of the centripetal
acceleration, a equals r omega squared. And, if we substitute for omega,
we have a equals v squared over r. Woo, that was a bit of work. But those equati
ons are quite important
and we need them for circular motion. Hey, have you checked the units
on those equations yet? No? It should be automatic by now. Omega is in seconds t
o the minus 1. So, you agree? Good. Now, let's go an important question. Aristot
le, and many others, thought that the earth was stationary,
because we couldn't feel it moving. So over to you. What is your acceleration du
e to
the Earth's rotation on its axis and due to its orbit around the Sun? Here's ano
ther problem. A car goes over a hill, whose crest has
a radius of curvature of 30 meters. How fast does it have to travel so that it b
ecomes airborne
at the very highest point? Let's make that the first
question in the quiz. And after that, there is a test because
we're finished with projectiles and circular motion, for now. Next week, we'll m
eet Newton's
laws of motion, and we'll start explaining the motions that we've
been observing and quantifying so far. Good luck for the test and
see you next week. [MUSIC]