Experiment Summary:
Students will have the opportunity to assemble a centripetal apparatus to study the forces involved in rotational motion. Students will use varying masses to measure the time it takes for one revolution and use the data to derive the radius, theoretical centripetal force, and velocity. They will explore and graph the relationships among velocity, centripetal force, and the radius of the circular path of an object undergoing constant circular motion.
Objectives
To calculate the angular velocity of a spinning object using varying hanging and rotational masses and varying radii.
To calculate the theoretical centripetal force.
To calculate the experimental centripetal force.
To graph and analyze experimental data.