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Target Audience:
11th and 12th grade Physics class
Objectives:
Students Will Be Able To:
• Describe circular motion using centripetal acceleration
• Describe circular motion using linear and angular acceleration
Misconception(s) Addressed:
• Centrifugal force
• Differences between linear and angular velocity
• Relationship between circular motion, velocity, time, and radius
Aim: Demonstrate instances of Centripetal Acceleration and describe using linear and
angular velocity.
Necessary Preparation:
COPIES
MATERIALS
• Rubber washer, string, straw
• Large beaker with rubber ball
• Flask beaker, popcorn foam, string, rubber stopper
Becky McCoy
• Cup on a string
• Water
SET UP
• Assemble rubber washer, string, straw (from last class)
• Assemble one Accelerometer (tie string around foam, fill beaker with water, put
foam/string in beaker so when the beaker is sealed and turned upside down, the
foam floats near the top of the beaker)
Becky McCoy
Lesson Plan
Aim: Demonstrate instances of Centripetal Acceleration and describe using linear and angular
velocity.
Procedure:
• Review the definition of Centripetal Acceleration and Force. Ask some basic
questions from last class (“If a car is turning left, what will you feel? What keeps
you from continuing straight?”)
• Do a Banked Track Race Car drawing on the
board (see diagram on the right).
• Assume the car weights 700kg and the track is
banked at 10degrees (this could also simulate a
normal car turning on an average road, so you
don’t have to use the race car example).
Calculate the normal force (6860N).
• Point out that there is a horizontal component
that is not accounted for (friction can be
neglected because it opposes the motion, which means it is coming in/out of the
page).
• Alter the drawing to show this “mystery force”.
• Define this force as the Centripetal Force. Given
even a slight bank, a center-seeking force is
present.
• FUN FACT: when racing, the faster your
velocity, the higher up you are on the banked
curve.
• Have students create their own accelerometers
and let each student have an opportunity to spin
around and observe the acceleration pointing into
the circle (towards you at all times).
Becky McCoy
• PROOF #2: Draw a large circle on the board. Using three different colors, label
three radius and three velocities, like the diagram below (label the θ and the right
angle).
• Ask students to define linear velocity (the change in distance over a certain time).
• Ask students to guess what angular velocity might be (the changing angle over a
certain time).
• Write out an equation for angular velocity: ω = θ/t.
• Get the string/rubber washer/straw combination and, holding the straw in one
hand and the string in the other, swing the washer in a horizontal circle over your
head. Stop spinning and slowly pull the string down, showing that the washer’s
linear velocity increases.
• Ask students whether the linear velocity, angular velocity, or both change.
• Show the radius decreases and so does the time (or period), causing no net change
in the linear velocity.
• However, for the angular velocity, the angle stays the same and the time changes,
so the net angular velocity changes as well.
Homework:
Mathematical problems TBD
Exit Strategy:
321 Exit Cards – 3 examples of circular motion, 2 types of velocity used in circular motion, 1
type of acceleration in circular motion
Extension Activity:
Practice several examples of centripetal acceleration and angular momentum.
Assessment:
Exit cards
Formative assessment listening to student conversations, comments, and answers
Resources: