Derivation of

Circular Motion
Physics Using
Calculus
Brandon A. Belna

Motivation
This investigation was spawned when I was sitting in my AP Physics class,
and the following equation was written on the board:
=

The question immediately appeared into my head: where does this equation
come from? As a very mathematically minded person, I wanted a mathematical
derivation of this equation; and not just a conceptual explanation. I started with a
simple premise: that is, anything moving in a circle can be represented with the
position vector:
< () cos(()), () sin(()) >
From this simple equation, we can derive a lot of properties of circular
motion, which we shall show in this exploration.

Derivation of General Velocity and Acceleration Equations

We want to find a generalized equation for velocity in the x and y direction of
an object moving in a circle, and a generalized equation for acceleration in the x and
y direction of an object moving in a circle. We take the derivate of the position
vector, with respect to t, to get:

= () cos(()) ()() sin(())

= () sin(()) + ()() cos(())

These are our generalized velocity equations for an object moving in a circle.
We can easily see where these equations come from. For our generalized
acceleration equations, we can easily see that they equal the following:
2
= (() cos(()) ()() sin(())) ( ()() sin(())
2
+ ()(() sin(()) + ()() cos(())))
= () cos(()) () () sin(()) ()() sin(()) () () sin(())
()2 ()cos(())
= () cos(()) 2 () () sin(()) ()() sin(()) ()2 ()cos(())

2
= (() sin(()) + ()cos(()))
2
+ (()() cos(()) + ()( () cos(()) ()()sin(())))
= () sin(()) + () ()cos(())
+ ()() cos(()) + () () cos(()) ()2 ()sin(())
= () sin(()) + 2() ()cos(()) + ()() cos(()) ()2 ()sin(())
These generalized equations allow us to investigate all sorts of situations
where circular motion is involved. We shall start by investigating uniform circular
motion.
Uniform Circular Motion
What is studied in elementary physics classes and freshman university
physics classes is uniform circular motion. Uniform circular motion is the motion of
an object with the following constraints:
(): constant
(): constant
This significantly reduces down our equations of motion, as a lot of things
become zero. For instance, the velocity equations are now:

= ()() sin(())

= ()() cos(())

From this, we can derive an equation for speed. Speed is simply:

=

2 2
+

From substitution:
= ( ()() sin(()))2 + (()() cos(()))2
2

= ( ()()) (sin(()) + cos(()) )

= ( ()())
= ()()

This is a very significant result, and is key to deriving:

2
=

As we see:

= ()
()
This is a result from physics we know of, as:
=

This is a key result from elementary physics.

One of my big goals for this project was to derive the equation stated in the
motivation of this paper, that is:
2
=

To do this, we need to first realize that this equation is slightly deceitful. To

be mathematically succinct, the equation needs to be restated as:
|| =

||2

This equation states the information we need to derive it. We know that the
magnitude of acceleration is:
|| = (

2 2
2 2
)
+
(
)
2
2

We now constrain our variables for our acceleration equations, yielding:

2
= ( ()2 ()cos(())
2
2
= ( ()2 ()sin(())
2

Substitution yields:
|| = ( ()2 ()cos(()))2 + ( ()2 () sin(()))2

Which furtherly yields:

2

|| = ( ()2 ())2 (cos(()))2 + sin(()) )

|| = ()2 ()
We shall symbolically switch:
() =
As r is constant. We know that:
=

||
=
= ( )

Therefore:
|| =

||2

|| =

||2

This conclusion also has an interesting corollary: that is, the net force exerted
on an object must equal:
=

||2

TODO: I have yet to write the section on non-uniform circular motion, as the
equations have yet to come together. This shall be present in the final draft.