PhysicsLAB Practice Problems
Uniform Circular Motion


Directions: On this worksheet you will practice using the basic formulas for uniformly accelerated motion (in an horizontal plane).

Question 1  A baseball player rounds second base in an arc with a radius of curvature of 6.71 m at a speed of 5.8 m/s. If he weighs 869 N, what is the centripetal force that must be acting on him?
Question 2  In question #1, what is the coefficient of friction between the shoes of the player and the ground?
Question 3  A carnival ride on which standing passengers are pressed against the inside curved wall of a rotating vertical cylinder, is to turn at most at 0.8 revolution per second. Assuming a minimum coefficient of friction of 0.4 between clothing and wall, what diameter should the ride have if we can safely make the floor drop away when it reaches rotating speed?
Question 4  A 5.8-kg mass is tied to a 3/16-in. Manila line, which has a breaking strength of 2.3 kN. What is the maximum speed the mass can have if it is whirled around in a horizontal circle with a 1.7-m radius and the rope is not to break?
Question 5  A circular automobile racetrack is banked at an angle of θ degrees such that no friction between road and tires is required when a car travels at 27 m/s.



If the radius of the track is 465 m, determine θ.
Question 6  If the car were to instead travel through a flat curve as shown below, which diagram would correctly represent the direction of the centripetal force experienced by the car?

Question 7  If the mass in question #4 were to be whirled once again at maximum speed but in a second horizontal circle having a smaller radius of 1.2 meters, which of the following conditions were occur?


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