Concetti Chiave
- Circular motion is exemplified by satellites revolving around the Earth, with uniform circular motion involving constant velocity along a circular path.
- The period (T) is the time required for a particle to complete one full revolution along a circumference, measured in seconds.
- Frequency refers to the number of complete revolutions a particle makes in a set time, expressed in Hertz (Hz).
- Angular velocity relates the angular distance traveled to the time taken, with the angle formed by the radius pointing to the center.
- In uniform circular motion, angular velocity remains constant, depending on the angle rather than the arc length.
Circular motion
In nature there are many examples of this. A satellite revolves in circular motion around the earth. One specific type of circular motion is uniform circular motion. That is a particle that moves along a circumference with a constant velocity, the direction in which it moves varies continually because it is tangent to the circumference.
Period + frequency
-Period: the time that a particle at a certain point needs to complete a complete revolution along a circumference. The period is written as T and is measured in seconds. That is to say that if a particle in uniform circular motion is at a certain point at a determined instant in time, after a period it will be at the same location.-Frequency: the number of revolutions a particle completes in a given time. Is measured in Hertz (Hz).
Angular velocity
Angular velocity is the relation between the angular distance and the time to travel the distance. If a particle moves in uniform circular motion while travelling along the circumference it forms an arc. The radius tha extends from the particle points to the centre gives an angle.The angle "theta" is directly proportional to the arc travelled of the particle. Therefore the velocity of the particle depends on the angle of the radius instead of the arc lenght. In uniform circular motion angular velocity is constant.