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Uniform Circular Motion
Centripetal Acceleration
The motion of an object in a circular path at constant speed is known as uniform circular motion (UCM).
An object in UCM is constantly changing direction, and since velocity is a vector and has direction, you
could say that an object undergoing UCM has a constantly changing velocity, even if its speed remains
constant. And if the velocity of an object is changing, it must be accelerating. Therefore, an object
undergoing UCM is constantly accelerating. This type of acceleration is known as centripetal
acceleration.
Question: If a car is accelerating, is its speed increasing?
Answer: It depends. Its speed could be increasing, or it could be accelerating in a direction opposite its
velocity (slowing down). Or, its speed could remain constant yet still be accelerating if it is traveling in
uniform circular motion.
Just as importantly, we need to figure out the direction of the object's

acceleration, since acceleration is a vector. To do this, let's draw an object
moving counter-clockwise in a circular path, and show its velocity vector at two
different points in time. Since we know acceleration is the rate of change of an
object's velocity with respect to time, we can determine the direction of the
object's acceleration by finding the direction of its change in velocity, Δv.
To find its change in velocity, Δv, we must recall that
Therefore, we need to find the difference of the vectors vf and vi graphically, which can be re-written as
Recall that to add vectors graphically, we line them up, tip-to-tail, and then draw our resultant vector
from the starting point (tail) of our first vector to the ending point (tip) of our last vector
So, the acceleration vector must point in the direction shown above. If I show this vector back on our
original circle, lined up directly between our initial and final velocity vector, it's easy to see that the
acceleration vector points toward the center of the circle.
You can repeat this procedure from any point on the circle... no matter where you go, the acceleration
vector always points toward the center of the circle. In fact, the word centripetal in centripetal
acceleration means "center-seeking!"
So now we know the direction of an object's acceleration (toward the center of the circle), but what
about its magnitude? Magnitude of an object's centripetal acceleration can be found on the reference
table, and is given by the formula:
Circular Speed
So how do you find the speed of an object as it travels in a circular path? The formula for speed that we
learned in kinematics still applies
We have to be careful in using this equation, however, to understand that an object traveling in a
circular path is traveling along the circumference of a circle. Therefore, if an object were to make one
complete revolution around the circle, the distance it travels is equal to the circle's circumference.
Let's take a look at a sample problem:
Question: Miranda drives her car clockwise around a circular track of radius 30m. She completes 10 laps
around the track in 2 minutes. Find Miranda's total distance traveled, average speed, and centripetal
acceleration.
Solution:
Centripetal Force
If an object traveling in a circular path has an inward acceleration, Newton's 2nd Law tells us there must
be a net force directed toward the center of the circle as well. This type of force, known as a centripetal
force, can be a gravitational force, a tension, an applied force, or even a frictional force.
NOTE: When dealing with circular motion problems, it is important to realize that a centripetal force
isn't really a new force, a centripetal force is just a label or grouping we apply to a force to indicate its
direction is toward the center of a circle. This means that you never want to label a force on a free body
diagram as a centripetal force, Fc. Instead, label the center-directed force as specifically as you can. If a
tension is causing the force, label the force FT. If a frictional force is causing the center-directed force,
label it Ff, and so forth.
We can combine the equation for centripetal acceleration with Newton's 2nd Law to obtain Newton's
2nd Law for Circular Motion. Recall that Newton's 2nd Law states:
For an object traveling in a circular path, there must be a net (centripetal) force directed toward the
center of the circular path to cause a (centripetal) acceleration directed toward the center of the circular
path. We can revise Newton's 2nd Law for this particular case, then, as follows:
Then, recalling our formula for centripetal acceleration as:
We can put these together, replacing ac in our equation to get a combined form of Newton's 2nd Law
for Uniform Circular Motion:
Of course, if an object is traveling in a circular path and the centripetal force is removed, the object will
continue traveling in a straight line in whatever direction it was moving at the instant the force was
removed.
Question: An 800N running back turns a corner in a circular path of r=1m at a velocity of 8 m/s. Find the
running back's mass, centripetal acceleration, and centripetal force.
Answer: Given mg=800N, r=1m, v=8m/s; Find m, ac, Fc
Frequency and Period
For objects moving in circular paths, we can characterize their motion around the circle using the terms
frequency (f) and period (T). The frequency of an object is the number of revolutions the object makes in
a complete second. It is measured in units of [1/s], or Hertz (Hz). In similar fashion, the period of an
object is the time it takes to make one complete revolution. Since the period is a time interval, it is
measured in units of seconds. We can relate period and frequency using the equations:
Question: A 500g toy train completes 10 laps of its circular track in 1 min 40s. If the diameter of the track
is 1m, find the train's centripetal acceleration (ac), centripetal force (Fc), period (T), and frequency (f).
Answer:

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Uniform Circular Motion

Question: If a car is accelerating, is its speed increasing?

Just as importantly, we need to figure out the direction of the object's

To find its change in velocity, Δv, we must recall that

Let's take a look at a sample problem:

Then, recalling our formula for centripetal acceleration as:

Frequency and Period

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