Circular motion

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In physics, circular motion is rotation along a circle: a circular path or a circular orbit. It
can be uniform, that is, with constant angular rate of rotation, or non-uniform, that is,
with a changing rate of rotation. The rotation around a fixed axis of a three-dimensional
body involves circular motion of its parts. The equations describing circular motion of an
object do not take size or geometry into account, rather, the motion of a point mass in a
plane is assumed. In practice, the center of mass of a body can be considered to undergo
circular motion.

Examples of circular motion include: an artificial satellite orbiting the Earth in

geosynchronous orbit, a stone which is tied to a rope and is being swung in circles (cf.
hammer throw), a racecar turning through a curve in a race track, an electron moving
perpendicular to a uniform magnetic field, and a gear turning inside a mechanism.

Circular motion is accelerated even if the angular rate of rotation is constant, because the
object's velocity vector is constantly changing direction. Such change in direction of
velocity involves acceleration of the moving object by a centripetal force, which pulls the
moving object toward the center of the circular orbit. Without this acceleration, the object
would move in a straight line, according to Newton's laws of motion.

Contents
[hide]
 • 1 Formulas for uniform circular motion
• 2 Constant speed
• 3 Variable speed
• 4 Description of circular motion using polar coordinates
• 5 Description of circular motion using complex numbers
• 6 References
• 7 External links

• 8 See also

Formulas for uniform circular motion

Figure 1: Vector relationships for uniform circular motion; vector Ω representing the
rotation is normal to the plane of the orbit.

For motion in a circle of radius R, the circumference of the circle is C = 2π R. If the

period for one rotation is T, the angular rate of rotation, also known as angular velocity, ω
is:

The speed of the object traveling the circle is:

The angle θ swept out in a time t is:

The acceleration due to change in the direction is:

The vector relationships are shown in Figure 1. The axis of rotation is shown as a vector
Ω perpendicular to the plane of the orbit and with a magnitude ω = dθ / dt. The direction
of Ω is chosen using the right-hand rule. With this convention for depicting rotation, the
velocity is given by a vector cross product as

which is a vector perpendicular to both Ω and r ( t ), tangential to the orbit, and of

magnitude ω R. Likewise, the acceleration is given by

which is a vector perpendicular to both Ω and v ( t ) of magnitude ω |v| = ω2 R and

directed exactly opposite to r ( t ).[1]

Constant speed
In the simplest case the speed, mass and radius are constant.

Consider a body of one kilogram, moving in a circle of radius one metre, with an angular
velocity of one radian per second.

• The speed is one meter per second

• The inward acceleration is one metre per square second.
• It is subject to a centripetal force of one kilogram metre per square second, which
is one newton.
• The momentum of the body is one kg·m·s−1.
• The moment of inertia is one kg·m2.
• The angular momentum is one kg·m2·s−1.
• The kinetic energy is 1/2 joule.
• The circumference of the orbit is 2π (~ 6.283) metres.
• The period of the motion is 2π seconds per turn.
• The frequency is (2π)−1 hertz.
• From the point of view of quantum mechanics, the system is in an excited state
having quantum number ~ 9.48×1035.

Then consider a body of mass m, moving in a circle of radius r, with an angular velocity
of ω.

• The speed is v = r·ω.

• The centripetal (inward) acceleration is a = r·ω 2 = r −1·v 2.
 • The centripetal force is F = m·a = r·m·ω 2 = r−1·m·v 2.
• The momentum of the body is p = m·v = r·m·ω.
• The moment of inertia is I = r 2·m.
• The angular momentum is L = r·m·v = r 2·m·ω = I·ω.
• The kinetic energy is E = 2−1·m·v 2 = 2−1·r 2·m·ω 2 = (2·m)−1·p 2 = 2−1·I·ω 2 = (2·I)
−1
·L 2 .
• The circumference of the orbit is 2·π·r.
• The period of the motion is T = 2·π·ω −1.
• The frequency is f = T −1 . (Frequency is also often denoted by the Greek letter ν,
which however is almost indistinguishable from the letter v used here for
velocity).
• The quantum number is J = 2·π·L h−1

Variable speed
In the general case, circular motion requires that the total force can be decomposed into
the centripetal force required to keep the orbit circular and a force tangent to the circle,
causing a change of speed.

The magnitude of the centripetal force depends on the instantaneous speed.

In the case of an object at the end of a rope, subjected to a force, we can decompose the
force into a radial and a lateral component. The radial is either outward or inward.

Description of circular motion using polar coordinates

Figure 2: Polar coordinates for circular trajectory. On the left is a unit circle showing the
changes and in the unit vectors and for a small increment dθ in angle θ.

During circular motion the body moves on a curve that can be described in polar
coordinate system as a fixed distance R from the center of the orbit taken as origin,
oriented at an angle θ (t) from some reference direction. See Figure 2. The displacement
vector is the radial vector from the origin to the particle location:

where is the unit vector parallel to the radius vector at time t and pointing away
from the origin. It is handy to introduce the unit vector orthogonal to as well, namely
. It is customary to orient to point in the direction of travel along the orbit.

The velocity is the time derivative of the displacement:

Because the radius of the circle is constant, the radial component of the velocity is zero.
The unit vector has a time-invariant magnitude of unity, so as time varies its tip
always lies on a circle of unit radius, with an angle θ the same as the angle of . If the
particle displacement rotates through an angle dθ in time dt, so does , describing an
arc on the unit circle of magnitude dθ. See the unit circle at the left of Figure 2. Hence:

where the direction of the change must be perpendicular to (or, in other words, along
) because any change d in the direction of would change the size of . The
sign is positive, because an increase in dθ implies the object and have moved in the
direction of . Hence the velocity becomes:

The acceleration of the body can also be broken into radial and tangential components.
The acceleration is the time derivative of the velocity:
The time derivative of is found the same way as for . Again, is a unit vector and
its tip traces a unit circle with an angle that is π/2 + θ. Hence, an increase in angle dθ by
implies traces an arc of magnitude dθ, and as is orthogonal to , we have:

where a negative sign is necessary to keep orthogonal to . (Otherwise, the angle

between and would decrease with increase in dθ.) See the unit circle at the left of
Figure 2. Consequently the acceleration is:

The centripetal acceleration is the radial component, which is directed radially inward:

while the tangential component changes the magnitude of the velocity:

Description of circular motion using complex numbers

Circular motion can be described using complex numbers. Let the x axis be the real axis
and the y axis be the imaginary axis. The position of the body can then be given as z, a
complex "vector":

where i is the imaginary unit, and

is the angle of the complex vector with the real axis and is a function of time t. Since the
radius is constant:

where a dot indicates time differentiation. With this notation the velocity becomes:
and the acceleration becomes:

The first term is opposite to the direction of the displacement vector and the second is
perpendicular to it, just like the earlier results shown before.

References
1. ^ Knudsen, Jens M.; Hjorth, Poul G. (2000). Elements of Newtonian mechanics:
including nonlinear dynamics (3 ed.). Springer. p. 96. ISBN 3-540-67652-X.
http://books.google.com/books?id=Urumwws_lWUC., Chapter 5 page 96

External links
• Circular Motion - a chapter from an online textbook
• Circular Motion Lecture - a video lecture on CM

See also
• Angular momentum • Uniform circular • Centripetal force
• Equations of motion motion • Fictitious force
for circular motion • Simple harmonic
• Pendulum motion • Non-uniform circular
(mathematics) motion
• Example: circular
• Reciprocating motion motion
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circular_motion"
Categories: Rotation | Classical mechanics | Motion
Hidden categories: Articles to be merged from April 2010 | All articles to be merged

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