Physics

Circular Motion
(One Shot)

Concepts Covered in the Class:

• Tangential and Nor mal Accele ration
• Circular Motion Kinemat ics (Angular Variables)
• Uniform vs. Non -Unif orm Ci rc ular Moti on
• Centripet al F orce & Dynamics
• Conical Pendulum
• Radi us of Cu rvatur e (ROC)
• Banking of R oads
• Relative Angu lar Ve locit y

NORMAL ACCELERATION AND TANGENTIAL

ACCELERATION
• Suppose a particle is moving i n a random cur ve d path
with var iab le spee d.
• The comp onent of acce ler ation along th e ve loci ty is
called t angential acce le rati on.

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• The component of acce ler ati on perpendic ular to the
velocity is called normal acce ler ation.

Tangential Acceleration
• This is the comp onent of acc eler ation along velocity
(𝑎⃗𝑡 = 𝑎cos𝜃) and it is responsible for changing the
magnitude of the ve locit y
(speed).
• Rate of change of speed is
tangential acce ler ation :
𝑑(speed)
𝑎𝑡 =
𝑑𝑡
• If the speed is constant,
the tangential acce ler ati on is exactly ze ro.

Normal Acceleration
• This is the component of ac celer ation perp endicu lar
to the ve locit y ( 𝑎𝑁 = 𝑎sin𝜃) and it is r esponsible f or
changing the directi on of th e velocity.
• Vector form: 𝑎⃗𝑁 = 𝑎⃗ − 𝑎⃗𝑡

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SKC
• If a particle is moving on an y curve, draw a tangent
to that cu rve t o find th e dir e ction of its ve locit y.
• If the speed is c onstant, the tangential acce ler ation
will b e zer o, no matter wh at kind of motion it is (1D,
2D, or 3D).
• If the speed changes, t angen tial accelerat ion exists;
if the di rection changes , nor mal acce ler ation exists.

Circular motion
• The direction of velocity const antly changes, meaning
normal acce le rati on ( 𝑎𝑁 ) is present and is
specifically calle d centrip etal accele rati on ( 𝑎𝑐 ).

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• The position vector 𝑟⃗ is alw ays perpendicu lar t o the
velocity vector 𝑣⃗, so thei r dot product is zero ( 𝑟⃗ ⋅ 𝑣⃗ =
0).

Angular displacement
• The angle trac ed b y the posit ion vect or of a particle
moving with r espect to some fixed point.
arc
• Formula: Δ𝜃 = (measured in radians).
𝑅

Average Angular Speed

• It is the rati o of t otal angu lar displacement and the
total time t aken to do so.
Δ𝜃
• 𝜔𝑎𝑣 =
Δ𝑡

Instantaneous Angular Velocity

• It is the rate of ch ange of angular p osition at some
particu lar instant.
Δ𝜃 𝑑𝜃
• 𝜔 = limΔ𝑡→0 =
Δ𝑡 𝑑𝑡

Angular acc.
• The rate of change of ang ular velocity is calle d
angular acce le rati on ( 𝛼).
𝑑𝜔
• 𝛼=
𝑑𝑡

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Dir^n of \omega
• The direction of angular ve locity is deter mined b y
the Right -hand thu mb r ule.
• If the particle is speeding up, 𝜔
⃗⃗ and 𝛼⃗ point in the
same di rection.
• If the partic le is spee ding down, 𝜔
⃗⃗ and 𝛼⃗ point in
opposite directi ons.

Centripetal acc = a_c

• Acceleration di recte d towards the center that is
mandator y f or circ ular motion .
𝑣2
• 𝑎𝑐 = = 𝑅𝜔2
𝑅
• For unif orm circu lar moti on, the time pe riod is 𝑇 =
2𝜋𝑅 2𝜋
= .
𝑣 𝜔

Uniform Circular motion (speed \rightarrow

const)
• Because the speed is con stant, the tangential
accele rati on ( 𝑎𝑡 ) is zero.
• The net accele rati on is equal t o the centri petal
𝑣2
accele rati on ( 𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑡 = 𝑎𝑐 = ) and is directed exactly
𝑅
towar ds the center.

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Non Uniform Circular motion (speed \rightarrow
change)
• Because the spe ed ch anges, both t angential
accele rati on ( 𝑎𝑡 ≠ 0) and angular ac celer ation ( 𝛼 ≠ 0)
exist.
• The net acce ler ation is the vector sum of b oth the

normal an d tangenti al c omponents: 𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑡 = √𝑎𝑐2 + 𝑎𝑡2 .

Uniform Circular Motion

• Motion of a p artic le along t he circumfe rence of a
circle with a c onstant speed i s called unifor m circu lar
motion.

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• It is an acceler ated motion b ecause th e directi on of
the velocity vector keeps on changing.
• The position vector and ve locit y vector keep on
changing, though thei r magni tudes re main constant.

Linear Kinematics / Circular Motion Kinematics

• If angular accelerat ion ( 𝛼) is constant, the linear
equati ons of kinematics map direct ly to ci rcular
motion.
• For ex amp le, 𝑣 = 𝑢 + 𝑎𝑡 becomes 𝜔 = 𝜔𝑖 + 𝛼𝑡, and 𝑆 =
1 1
𝑢𝑡 + 𝑎𝑡 2 becomes 𝜃 = 𝜔𝑖 𝑡 + 𝛼𝑡 2 .
2 2

SKC
• If a p artic le is per for ming circ ular motion, c entripet al
accele rati on ( 𝑎𝑐 ) will def initely exist.
• If its spee d is als o changing, tangential acce ler ation
(𝑎𝑡 ) will exist alongside 𝑎𝑐 .
• Wheneve r a question simply asks for "acce ler ation " in
circular mot ion, it gener ally means you nee d to find
the net acceler ation.

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Centripetal Force
• Centripet al f orce is not a special new f orce; it is
simply the vector sum of all the f orces di recte d
towar ds the center acting on the partic le.
𝑚𝑣 2
• 𝐹𝑛𝑒𝑡 = 𝑚𝑎𝑐 = = 𝑚𝑅𝜔2
𝑅

SKC 4 line circular motion .

• First, loc ate th e cente r of th e circu lar p ath and dr aw
the Free Body Diagr am (FBD ) of the particle.
• Resolve all f orces into components pointing towards
the center an d perp endicu lar to the center.
• Set the sum of forces point ing towards the center
𝑚𝑣 2
equal to 𝑚𝑎𝑐 (𝐹𝑛𝑒𝑡 = ).
𝑅

Conical Pendulum
• A particle p erf orming circu lar motion in a hor izontal
circle with a constant angu lar speed 𝜔 and constant
length of string 𝑙.
• Vertical forc es balance out ( 𝑇cos𝜃 = 𝑚𝑔), and
horizontal f orces pr ovi de the centripetal accele rati on
𝑣2
(𝑇sin𝜃 = 𝑚 ).
𝑅

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 𝑙cos𝜃
• Time peri od 𝑇 = 2𝜋√ .
𝑔

UNIFORM AND NON-UNIFORM CIRCULAR MOTION

• Uniform: Spee d is constant, 𝜔 i s constant, and 𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑡 =
𝑣2
𝑎𝑐 = .
𝑅
• Non-uniform: Speed ch anges, 𝜔 changes, and 𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑡 =

√𝑎𝑐2 + 𝑎𝑡2 .

ROC (Radius of Curvature)

• The radius of cu rvature f or any arbitr ar y p ath can be
deter mined using normal acce ler ation.
𝑣2
• Formula: 𝑅𝑂𝐶 =
𝑎𝑁

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Radius of Curvature for y = f(x)
• If a p artic le moves in a t raj ec tory given b y a f unction
𝑦 = 𝑓(𝑥), the radius of cu rvature at any point (𝑥, 𝑦)
can be found with out normal accele rati on.
[1+(𝑑𝑦/𝑑𝑥)2 ]3/2
• 𝑅=
|𝑑 2𝑦/𝑑𝑥 2 |

Banking of road.
• On a fricti onless b anke d r oad, the saf e spee d for
turning is 𝑣 = √𝑅𝑔tan𝜃.
• If friction is present, a range of safe velocities
exists: 𝑉𝑚𝑖𝑛 ≤ 𝑉 ≤ 𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 .

काम का डब्बा
• Maximum safe spee d on a flat hori zont al road with
friction : 𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 = √𝜇𝑔𝑅.
• Banking of road when friction is absent : 𝑉 = √𝑅𝑔tan𝜃.
• Maximum saf e speed on a b anked r oad when fricti on
is present: 𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 = √𝑅𝑔tan(𝜃 + 𝜙), where tan𝜙 = 𝜇𝑠 .

SKC
• The angle by which the pos ition vect or rot ates is
called angular displacement.

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• The rate at which the position vector rot ates is the
angular velocity of the r adius vector.

Calculation of \omega_{A/B} When A and B

Both are Moving
• Relative angu lar ve locit y of p article 'A' with respect
to 'B' is the rate at which t he position vect or of 'A'
relative t o 'B' rot ates.
(𝑣𝐴𝐵 )⟂
• 𝜔𝐴/𝐵 =
𝑟𝐴𝐵

• Here, (𝑣𝐴𝐵 )⟂ is the relati ve ve locit y perpendic ular to

the position vector 𝐴𝐵.

SKC
• To find relative angular ve locity ( 𝜔𝐵/𝐴 ), first join
both particles with a straight line.
• Resolve the ve lociti es of both particles along that
line and perpen dicu lar to that line.
• Observe from the p erspective of one par ticle (relative
motion) and divi de the re lati ve perpen dicu lar ve locit y
by the separati on distance 𝑟.

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