1 00:00:00,296 --> 00:00:02,235 - [Instructor] People find centripetal force problems 2 00:00:02,235 --> 00:00:04,981 much more challenging than regular force problems, 3 00:00:04,981 --> 00:00:07,199 so we should go over at least a few more examples, 4 00:00:07,199 --> 00:00:09,193 and while we're doing them, we'll point out 5 00:00:09,193 --> 00:00:12,189 some common misconceptions that people make along the way. 6 00:00:12,189 --> 00:00:13,616 So, let's start with this example, 7 00:00:13,616 --> 00:00:14,627 and it's a classic. 8 00:00:14,627 --> 00:00:15,848 Let's say you started with a yo-yo 9 00:00:15,848 --> 00:00:17,466 and you whirled it around vertically, 10 00:00:17,466 --> 00:00:19,940 and I think this is called the around the world, 11 00:00:19,940 --> 00:00:21,369 if you want to look it up on YouTube, 12 00:00:21,369 --> 00:00:22,649 looks pretty slick. 13 00:00:22,649 --> 00:00:25,862 They whirl it around, goes high, and then it goes low. 14 00:00:25,862 --> 00:00:27,142 So this is a vertical circle, 15 00:00:27,142 --> 00:00:28,890 not a horizontal circle. 16 00:00:28,890 --> 00:00:31,755 We're not rotating this ball around on a horizontal surface. 17 00:00:31,755 --> 00:00:33,690 This ball is actually getting higher in the air 18 00:00:33,690 --> 00:00:34,936 and then lower in the air. 19 00:00:34,936 --> 00:00:36,407 But for our purposes, we just need to know 20 00:00:36,407 --> 00:00:38,347 that it's a mass tied to a string. 21 00:00:38,347 --> 00:00:39,837 Let's say the mass of the yo-yo 22 00:00:39,837 --> 00:00:41,814 is about 0.25 kilograms, 23 00:00:41,814 --> 00:00:43,291 and let's say the length of the string 24 00:00:43,291 --> 00:00:44,818 is about 0.5 meters. 25 00:00:44,818 --> 00:00:46,264 And let's say this ball is going about 26 00:00:46,264 --> 00:00:49,372 four meters per second when it's at the top of its motion. 27 00:00:49,372 --> 00:00:50,953 And something you might want to know 28 00:00:50,953 --> 00:00:52,794 if you're a yo-yo manufacturer 29 00:00:52,794 --> 00:00:55,964 is how much tension should this rope be able to support, 30 00:00:55,964 --> 00:00:57,791 how strong does your string need to be. 31 00:00:57,791 --> 00:00:59,610 So let's figure out for this example, 32 00:00:59,610 --> 00:01:01,968 what is the tension in the string 33 00:01:01,968 --> 00:01:04,224 when this yo-yo is at its maximum height 34 00:01:04,224 --> 00:01:06,021 going four meters per second? 35 00:01:06,021 --> 00:01:07,340 And if it's a force you want to find, 36 00:01:07,340 --> 00:01:10,990 the first step always is to draw a quality force diagram. 37 00:01:10,990 --> 00:01:12,116 So let's do that here. 38 00:01:12,116 --> 00:01:14,350 Let's ask what forces are on this yo-yo. 39 00:01:14,350 --> 00:01:15,676 Well, if we're near Earth 40 00:01:15,676 --> 00:01:16,989 and we're assuming we're going to be 41 00:01:16,989 --> 00:01:18,908 near the surface of the Earth playing with our yo-yo, 42 00:01:18,908 --> 00:01:20,220 there's gonna be a force of gravity 43 00:01:20,220 --> 00:01:22,442 and that force of gravity is gonna point straight downward. 44 00:01:22,442 --> 00:01:24,895 So the magnitude of that force of gravity 45 00:01:24,895 --> 00:01:28,812 is gonna be m times g, where g is positive 9.8. 46 00:01:29,908 --> 00:01:32,013 g represents the magnitude 47 00:01:32,013 --> 00:01:33,618 of the acceleration due to gravity, 48 00:01:33,618 --> 00:01:35,043 and this expression here represents 49 00:01:35,043 --> 00:01:36,834 the magnitude of the force of gravity. 50 00:01:36,834 --> 00:01:38,214 But there's another force. 51 00:01:38,214 --> 00:01:39,632 The string is tied to the mass, 52 00:01:39,632 --> 00:01:41,565 so this string can pull on the mass. 53 00:01:41,565 --> 00:01:43,897 Strings pull, they exert a force of tension. 54 00:01:43,897 --> 00:01:45,985 Which way does that tension go? 55 00:01:45,985 --> 00:01:48,514 A lot of people want to draw that tension going upward, 56 00:01:48,514 --> 00:01:49,896 and that's not good. 57 00:01:49,896 --> 00:01:51,559 Ropes can't push. 58 00:01:51,559 --> 00:01:53,153 If you don't believe me, go get a rope, 59 00:01:53,153 --> 00:01:54,406 try to push on something. 60 00:01:54,406 --> 00:01:56,420 You'll realize, oh yeah, it can't push, 61 00:01:56,420 --> 00:01:57,726 but it can pull. 62 00:01:57,726 --> 00:01:58,944 So that's what this rope's gonna do. 63 00:01:58,944 --> 00:01:59,921 This rope's gonna pull. 64 00:01:59,921 --> 00:02:00,754 How much? 65 00:02:00,754 --> 00:02:01,587 I don't know. 66 00:02:01,587 --> 00:02:02,496 That's what we're gonna try to find out. 67 00:02:02,496 --> 00:02:05,057 This is gonna be the force of tension right here, 68 00:02:05,057 --> 00:02:06,583 and we'll label it with a capital T. 69 00:02:06,583 --> 00:02:09,472 We could have used F with the sub T. 70 00:02:09,472 --> 00:02:11,259 There's different ways to label the tension, 71 00:02:11,259 --> 00:02:12,519 but no matter how you label it, 72 00:02:12,519 --> 00:02:15,062 that tension points in towards the center of the circle 73 00:02:15,062 --> 00:02:17,684 'cause this rope is pulling on the mass. 74 00:02:17,684 --> 00:02:19,573 So, after you draw a force diagram, 75 00:02:19,573 --> 00:02:21,038 if you want to find a force, 76 00:02:21,038 --> 00:02:24,233 typically, you're just gonna use Newton's second law. 77 00:02:24,233 --> 00:02:26,548 And we're gonna use this formula as always 78 00:02:26,548 --> 00:02:28,394 in one dimension at a time 79 00:02:28,394 --> 00:02:31,521 so vertically, horizontally, centripetally, 80 00:02:31,521 --> 00:02:32,902 one dimension at a time 81 00:02:32,902 --> 00:02:35,645 to make the calculations as simple as possible. 82 00:02:35,645 --> 00:02:38,069 And since we have a centripetal motion problem, 83 00:02:38,069 --> 00:02:39,661 we have an object going in a circle, 84 00:02:39,661 --> 00:02:41,752 and we want to find one of those forces 85 00:02:41,752 --> 00:02:43,683 that are directed into the circle, 86 00:02:43,683 --> 00:02:45,242 we're gonna use Newton's second law 87 00:02:45,242 --> 00:02:46,768 for the centripetal direction. 88 00:02:46,768 --> 00:02:48,597 So we'll use centripetal acceleration here 89 00:02:48,597 --> 00:02:50,808 and net force centripetally here. 90 00:02:50,808 --> 00:02:52,419 So in other words, we're gonna write down 91 00:02:52,419 --> 00:02:53,760 that the centripetal acceleration 92 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:56,747 is gonna be equal to the net centripetal force 93 00:02:56,747 --> 00:03:00,550 exerted on the mass that's going around in that circle. 94 00:03:00,550 --> 00:03:03,058 So because we chose the centripetal direction, 95 00:03:03,058 --> 00:03:04,357 we're gonna be able to replace 96 00:03:04,357 --> 00:03:07,149 the centripetal acceleration with the formula 97 00:03:07,149 --> 00:03:08,737 for centripetal acceleration. 98 00:03:08,737 --> 00:03:10,936 The centripetal acceleration's always equivalent 99 00:03:10,936 --> 00:03:13,166 to v squared over r, 100 00:03:13,166 --> 00:03:14,423 the speed of the object squared 101 00:03:14,423 --> 00:03:15,851 divided by the radius of the circle 102 00:03:15,851 --> 00:03:17,583 that the object is traveling in. 103 00:03:17,583 --> 00:03:19,898 So we set that equal to the net centripetal force 104 00:03:19,898 --> 00:03:20,907 over the mass, 105 00:03:20,907 --> 00:03:22,510 and the trickiest part here, 106 00:03:22,510 --> 00:03:24,984 the part where the failure's probably gonna happen 107 00:03:24,984 --> 00:03:27,075 is trying to figure out what do you plug in 108 00:03:27,075 --> 00:03:29,322 for the centripetal force. 109 00:03:29,322 --> 00:03:30,388 And now we gotta decide 110 00:03:30,388 --> 00:03:32,819 what is acting as our centripetal force 111 00:03:32,819 --> 00:03:35,243 and plug those in here with the correct signs. 112 00:03:35,243 --> 00:03:37,584 So, let's just see what forces we have on our object. 113 00:03:37,584 --> 00:03:39,832 There's a force of tension and a force of gravity. 114 00:03:39,832 --> 00:03:42,444 So, when you go try to figure out what to plug in here, 115 00:03:42,444 --> 00:03:45,283 people start thinking, they start looking all over. 116 00:03:45,283 --> 00:03:46,541 No, you drew your force diagram. 117 00:03:46,541 --> 00:03:47,542 Look right there. 118 00:03:47,542 --> 00:03:49,423 Our force diagram holds all the information 119 00:03:49,423 --> 00:03:51,556 about all the forces that we've got 120 00:03:51,556 --> 00:03:53,105 as long as we drew it well. 121 00:03:53,105 --> 00:03:54,203 And we did draw it well. 122 00:03:54,203 --> 00:03:55,228 We included all the forces, 123 00:03:55,228 --> 00:03:56,745 so we'll just go one by one. 124 00:03:56,745 --> 00:03:59,059 Should we include, should we even include 125 00:03:59,059 --> 00:04:02,310 the force of gravity in this centripetal force calculation? 126 00:04:02,310 --> 00:04:04,756 We should because we're gonna include all forces 127 00:04:04,756 --> 00:04:07,047 that point centripetally and remember, 128 00:04:07,047 --> 00:04:09,693 the word centripetal is just a fancy word 129 00:04:09,693 --> 00:04:12,524 for pointing toward the center of the circle. 130 00:04:12,524 --> 00:04:14,387 And this force of gravity does point toward 131 00:04:14,387 --> 00:04:15,422 the center of the circle. 132 00:04:15,422 --> 00:04:18,123 So we're gonna include this force in our centripetal force. 133 00:04:18,123 --> 00:04:19,706 It's contributing, in other words, 134 00:04:19,706 --> 00:04:21,249 to the centripetal force. 135 00:04:21,249 --> 00:04:23,676 It's one of the forces that is causing this ball 136 00:04:23,676 --> 00:04:25,106 to go in a circle, 137 00:04:25,106 --> 00:04:26,978 so we include it in this formula. 138 00:04:26,978 --> 00:04:29,512 So mg is the magnitude of the force of gravity. 139 00:04:29,512 --> 00:04:31,835 We have to decide, do we include that as a positive 140 00:04:31,835 --> 00:04:32,856 or a negative? 141 00:04:32,856 --> 00:04:34,619 Many people want to include it as a negative 142 00:04:34,619 --> 00:04:35,710 'cause it points down, 143 00:04:35,710 --> 00:04:38,001 but when we're dealing with the centripetal direction, 144 00:04:38,001 --> 00:04:40,092 it's inward that's gonna be positive, 145 00:04:40,092 --> 00:04:42,652 not necessarily up that's gonna be positive. 146 00:04:42,652 --> 00:04:44,402 If up happens to point in, 147 00:04:44,402 --> 00:04:46,071 then we'd consider it positive. 148 00:04:46,071 --> 00:04:47,023 So if we were down here, 149 00:04:47,023 --> 00:04:48,477 up is positive. 150 00:04:48,477 --> 00:04:50,819 But up here, down is positive 151 00:04:50,819 --> 00:04:52,761 'cause it points in toward the center of the circle, 152 00:04:52,761 --> 00:04:53,911 and if we're over here, 153 00:04:53,911 --> 00:04:56,215 diagonally up and left would be positive 154 00:04:56,215 --> 00:04:57,872 because any force that would be pointing 155 00:04:57,872 --> 00:04:59,213 toward the center of the circle 156 00:04:59,213 --> 00:05:01,695 is gonna be included as a positive sign 157 00:05:01,695 --> 00:05:03,210 and there's a reason for that. 158 00:05:03,210 --> 00:05:04,649 The reason we're including 159 00:05:04,649 --> 00:05:06,228 toward the center of the circle as positive 160 00:05:06,228 --> 00:05:07,690 is because we chose to write 161 00:05:07,690 --> 00:05:09,830 our centripetal acceleration as positive. 162 00:05:09,830 --> 00:05:12,554 And since we know the centripetal acceleration 163 00:05:12,554 --> 00:05:14,561 points toward the center of the circle, 164 00:05:14,561 --> 00:05:17,095 if we make the centripetal acceleration positive, 165 00:05:17,095 --> 00:05:19,741 we've committed to toward the center of the circle 166 00:05:19,741 --> 00:05:21,335 as being positive as well. 167 00:05:21,335 --> 00:05:23,268 In other words, we could have decided that 168 00:05:23,268 --> 00:05:24,688 out of the circle's positive, 169 00:05:24,688 --> 00:05:25,916 but if we did that, 170 00:05:25,916 --> 00:05:28,622 this centripetal acceleration that points inward 171 00:05:28,622 --> 00:05:31,462 would have had to be included with a negative sign over here 172 00:05:31,462 --> 00:05:32,464 and that's just weird. 173 00:05:32,464 --> 00:05:33,395 Nobody does that. 174 00:05:33,395 --> 00:05:35,363 So we choose into the circle as positive. 175 00:05:35,363 --> 00:05:37,618 That makes our centripetal acceleration positive, 176 00:05:37,618 --> 00:05:40,535 but it also makes every force that points inward 177 00:05:40,535 --> 00:05:41,620 positive as well. 178 00:05:41,620 --> 00:05:44,564 And long story short, this force of gravity 179 00:05:44,564 --> 00:05:47,211 is gonna be counted as a positive centripetal force 180 00:05:47,211 --> 00:05:50,871 since it points inward toward the center of the circle. 181 00:05:50,871 --> 00:05:51,855 And we keep going. 182 00:05:51,855 --> 00:05:53,099 We've got another force here. 183 00:05:53,099 --> 00:05:54,231 We've got a force of tension. 184 00:05:54,231 --> 00:05:55,416 Do we include it in here? 185 00:05:55,416 --> 00:05:57,863 Yes we do because it points toward the center of the circle. 186 00:05:57,863 --> 00:06:00,232 And do we include it as a positive or a negative? 187 00:06:00,232 --> 00:06:04,019 Since it also points toward the center of the circle, 188 00:06:04,019 --> 00:06:06,614 we're gonna include it as a positive centripetal force. 189 00:06:06,614 --> 00:06:08,234 It is also one of the forces 190 00:06:08,234 --> 00:06:11,264 that causes this ball to move around in a circle. 191 00:06:11,264 --> 00:06:14,170 In other words, the combined force of both 192 00:06:14,170 --> 00:06:15,429 gravity and the force of tension 193 00:06:15,429 --> 00:06:18,817 are making up the net centripetal force in this case. 194 00:06:18,817 --> 00:06:20,423 So now, if we want to solve for the tension, 195 00:06:20,423 --> 00:06:21,898 we just do our algebra. 196 00:06:21,898 --> 00:06:23,823 We'll multiply both sides by the mass. 197 00:06:23,823 --> 00:06:25,973 Then, we'll subtract mg from both sides, 198 00:06:25,973 --> 00:06:27,890 and if we do that, we'll end up with the tension 199 00:06:27,890 --> 00:06:30,464 equals m v squared over r 200 00:06:30,464 --> 00:06:33,156 minus mg, which if we plug in numbers, 201 00:06:33,156 --> 00:06:35,134 we'd get that the tension in the rope 202 00:06:35,134 --> 00:06:36,467 is 5.55 Newtons. 203 00:06:38,747 --> 00:06:40,115 So this is to be expected. 204 00:06:40,115 --> 00:06:43,171 We subtracted the force of gravity, the magnitude of it 205 00:06:43,171 --> 00:06:45,392 from this net centripetal force, 206 00:06:45,392 --> 00:06:47,603 so this term here represents 207 00:06:47,603 --> 00:06:50,163 the total amount of centripetal force we need 208 00:06:50,163 --> 00:06:53,172 in order to cause this yo-yo to go in a circle. 209 00:06:53,172 --> 00:06:54,561 But the amount of tension we need 210 00:06:54,561 --> 00:06:57,300 is that amount minus the force of gravity, 211 00:06:57,300 --> 00:07:00,874 and the reason is, the force of gravity and tension together 212 00:07:00,874 --> 00:07:03,953 are both acting as the centripetal force. 213 00:07:03,953 --> 00:07:06,105 So, neither one of them have to add up 214 00:07:06,105 --> 00:07:07,848 to the total centripetal force. 215 00:07:07,848 --> 00:07:10,504 It's just both together that have to add up 216 00:07:10,504 --> 00:07:11,558 to the centripetal force, 217 00:07:11,558 --> 00:07:13,948 and because of that, the tension does not have to be 218 00:07:13,948 --> 00:07:15,633 as large as it might have been. 219 00:07:15,633 --> 00:07:17,354 However, if we consider the case 220 00:07:17,354 --> 00:07:20,899 where the yo-yo rotates down to the bottom of its path, 221 00:07:20,899 --> 00:07:24,662 down here, once the yo-yo rotates down to this point, 222 00:07:24,662 --> 00:07:26,489 our force diagram's gonna look different. 223 00:07:26,489 --> 00:07:29,030 The force of gravity still points downward, 224 00:07:29,030 --> 00:07:31,254 the force of gravity's always gonna be straight down 225 00:07:31,254 --> 00:07:34,849 and the magnitude is always gonna be given by m times g. 226 00:07:34,849 --> 00:07:36,696 But this time, the tension points up 227 00:07:36,696 --> 00:07:39,428 because the string is always pulling on the mass. 228 00:07:39,428 --> 00:07:41,015 Ropes can only pull. 229 00:07:41,015 --> 00:07:42,147 Ropes can never push, 230 00:07:42,147 --> 00:07:44,054 so this rope is still pulling the mass, 231 00:07:44,054 --> 00:07:45,951 the yo-yo toward the center of the circle. 232 00:07:45,951 --> 00:07:48,338 So now, when we plug in over here, 233 00:07:48,338 --> 00:07:50,607 one of these forces is gonna be negative. 234 00:07:50,607 --> 00:07:52,174 Before they were both positive 235 00:07:52,174 --> 00:07:53,203 and they were both positive 236 00:07:53,203 --> 00:07:56,967 because both forces pointed toward the center of the circle. 237 00:07:56,967 --> 00:07:59,170 Now, only one force is pointing toward 238 00:07:59,170 --> 00:08:00,145 the center of the circle, 239 00:08:00,145 --> 00:08:01,789 and we can see that that's tension. 240 00:08:01,789 --> 00:08:04,430 Tension's pointing toward the center of the circle. 241 00:08:04,430 --> 00:08:06,641 Gravity's pointing away from the center, 242 00:08:06,641 --> 00:08:08,614 radially away from the center. 243 00:08:08,614 --> 00:08:11,200 That means tension still remains a positive force, 244 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:14,136 but the force of gravity now, for this case down here, 245 00:08:14,136 --> 00:08:17,078 would have to be considered a negative centripetal force 246 00:08:17,078 --> 00:08:20,188 since it's directed away from the center of the circle. 247 00:08:20,188 --> 00:08:21,904 So, if we were to calculate the tension 248 00:08:21,904 --> 00:08:23,134 at the bottom of the path, 249 00:08:23,134 --> 00:08:25,876 the left hand side would still be v squared over r 250 00:08:25,876 --> 00:08:28,158 'cause that's still the centripetal acceleration. 251 00:08:28,158 --> 00:08:30,428 The mass on the bottom would still be m 252 00:08:30,428 --> 00:08:32,615 'cause that's the mass of the yo-yo going in a circle. 253 00:08:32,615 --> 00:08:37,250 But instead of T plus mg, we'd have T minus mg 254 00:08:37,250 --> 00:08:39,328 since gravity's pointing radially out 255 00:08:39,328 --> 00:08:40,773 of the center of the circle. 256 00:08:40,774 --> 00:08:42,072 And if we solve this expression 257 00:08:42,072 --> 00:08:43,561 for the tension in the string, 258 00:08:43,561 --> 00:08:45,355 we'd get that the tension equals, 259 00:08:45,355 --> 00:08:47,114 we'd have to multiply both sides by m, 260 00:08:47,114 --> 00:08:49,089 and then add mg to both sides. 261 00:08:49,089 --> 00:08:50,686 And we'd get that the tension's gonna equal 262 00:08:50,686 --> 00:08:53,626 m v squared over r, plus m g. 263 00:08:53,626 --> 00:08:57,247 This time, we add m g to this m v squared over r term, 264 00:08:57,247 --> 00:08:59,228 whereas over here, we had to subtract it. 265 00:08:59,228 --> 00:09:00,983 And that should make sense conceptually 266 00:09:00,983 --> 00:09:04,086 since before, up here, both tension and gravity 267 00:09:04,086 --> 00:09:06,141 were working together to add up 268 00:09:06,141 --> 00:09:08,009 to the total centripetal force, 269 00:09:08,009 --> 00:09:10,077 so neither one had to be as big 270 00:09:10,077 --> 00:09:11,451 as they might have been otherwise. 271 00:09:11,451 --> 00:09:15,249 But down here, not only is gravity not helping the tension, 272 00:09:15,249 --> 00:09:17,487 gravity's hurting the centripetal cause 273 00:09:17,487 --> 00:09:20,358 by pulling this mass out of the center of the circle, 274 00:09:20,358 --> 00:09:21,841 so the poor tension in this case 275 00:09:21,841 --> 00:09:25,044 not only has to equal the net centripetal force, 276 00:09:25,044 --> 00:09:27,858 it has to add up to more than the net centripetal force 277 00:09:27,858 --> 00:09:30,305 just to cancel off this negative effect 278 00:09:30,305 --> 00:09:31,724 from the force of gravity. 279 00:09:31,724 --> 00:09:32,977 And if we plugged in numbers, 280 00:09:32,977 --> 00:09:35,076 we'd see that the tension would end up being bigger. 281 00:09:35,076 --> 00:09:37,478 We'd actually get the same exact term here, 282 00:09:37,478 --> 00:09:40,440 except that instead of subtracting gravity, 283 00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:41,999 we have to add gravity 284 00:09:41,999 --> 00:09:44,294 to this net centripetal force expression. 285 00:09:44,294 --> 00:09:48,485 And we'd get that the tension would be 10.45 Newtons. 286 00:09:48,485 --> 00:09:51,130 So recapping, when solving centripetal force problems, 287 00:09:51,130 --> 00:09:53,517 we typically write the v squared over r 288 00:09:53,517 --> 00:09:56,397 on the left hand side as a positive acceleration, 289 00:09:56,397 --> 00:09:58,351 and by doing that, we've selected in 290 00:09:58,351 --> 00:10:00,370 toward the center of the circle as positive 291 00:10:00,370 --> 00:10:01,826 since that's the direction 292 00:10:01,826 --> 00:10:03,602 that centripetal acceleration points, 293 00:10:03,602 --> 00:10:06,005 which means that all forces that are directed 294 00:10:06,005 --> 00:10:07,604 in toward the center of the circle 295 00:10:07,604 --> 00:10:09,129 also have to be positive. 296 00:10:09,129 --> 00:10:10,688 And you have to be careful because that means 297 00:10:10,688 --> 00:10:14,414 downward forces can count as a positive centripetal force 298 00:10:14,414 --> 00:10:16,707 as long as down corresponds to 299 00:10:16,707 --> 00:10:18,178 toward the center of the circle. 300 00:10:18,178 --> 00:10:20,116 And just because a force was positive 301 00:10:20,116 --> 00:10:21,644 during one portion of the trip, 302 00:10:21,644 --> 00:10:23,664 like gravity was at the top of this motion, 303 00:10:23,664 --> 00:10:26,328 that does not necessarily mean that that same force 304 00:10:26,328 --> 00:00:00,000 is gonna be positive at some other point during the motion.