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AP Physics 1 Uniform Circular Motion and Gravitation — practice questions

Explore 45 free Uniform Circular Motion and Gravitation questions in AP Physics 1 Physics. Open each question or exercise to read its content, reference answers and available explanation.

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Uniform Circular Motion and Gravitation questions and exercises with answers

Showing questions 1–30 of 45.

One complete revolution around a circle corresponds to a rotation angle of how many radians?Read the answer and worked solution →Angular velocity is defined as the rate of change of which quantity?Read the answer and worked solution →Calculate the angular velocity of a 0.300 m radius car tire when the car travels at 15.0 m/s.Read the answer and worked solution →In uniform circular motion, the centripetal acceleration of an object points in which direction?Read the answer and worked solution →What is the magnitude of the centripetal acceleration of a car following a curve of radius 500 m at a speed of 25.0 m/s?Read the answer and worked solution →What must always be present to cause a centripetal acceleration, according to Newton's second law of motion?Read the answer and worked solution →Calculate the centripetal force exerted on a 900 kg car that negotiates a 500 m radius curve at 25.0 m/s.Read the answer and worked solution →On an ideally banked, frictionless curve, the banking angle theta needed for speed v and radius r satisfies which relationship?Read the answer and worked solution →What is a fictitious force, as distinguished from a real force like tension or friction?Read the answer and worked solution →Using G, Earth's mass, and Earth's radius, what value does Newton's law of gravitation predict for the acceleration due to gravity at Earth's surface?Read the answer and worked solution →Real force or fictitious?Read the answer and worked solution →Circles and orbits bingoRead the answer and worked solution →What gravity depends onRead the answer and worked solution →Points to the centre or not?Read the answer and worked solution →Spot the odd oneRead the answer and worked solution →Linear momentum is the product of a system's mass and its:Read the answer and worked solution →The SI unit for momentum is:Read the answer and worked solution →A 110 kg football player runs at 8.00 m/s. His momentum is:Read the answer and worked solution →A 0.410 kg football thrown at 25.0 m/s has momentum of about:Read the answer and worked solution →Although the ball is faster, the player has far more momentum because of his much greater:Read the answer and worked solution →Momentum form of Newton's second law is useful for systems whose mass changes, such as:Read the answer and worked solution →Venus Williams's 2007 serve reached a ball speed of:Read the answer and worked solution →The average force on the 0.057 kg ball in contact with the racquet for 5.0 ms was about:Read the answer and worked solution →The quantity average net force multiplied by the time it acts is called:Read the answer and worked solution →Airbags reduce injury by making the stopping force act over a:Read the answer and worked solution →Deaths in car racing fell sharply when rigid frames were replaced by parts that:Read the answer and worked solution →Rolling on the ground after a jump protects your bones by extending the:Read the answer and worked solution →On a force-versus-time graph, the area under the curve equals the:Read the answer and worked solution →When a football player hits a goalpost, momentum is still conserved because the Earth also:Read the answer and worked solution →An isolated system is one for which the net external force is:Read the answer and worked solution →

Worked practice questions

One complete revolution around a circle corresponds to a rotation angle of how many radians?

  1. Pi radians, half of one turn
  2. Two pi radians, a full turn
  3. 360 radians, far more than one turn
  4. One radian, a fraction of one turn
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Correct answer: B. Two pi radians, a full turn

1. A rotation angle of two pi radians corresponds to an object returning to its starting position after tracing the full circumference, which is one complete revolution. 2. Because the arc length of a full circle is the circumference 2 pi r, dividing by the radius r gives a rotation angle of exactly 2 pi radians for one revolution. 3. Pi radians describes only a half turn, not a full revolution. 4. 360 radians and one radian each describe an amount of rotation far removed from a single full turn, since 360 degrees, not 360 radians, equals one revolution. _Source: OpenStax College Physics (CC BY 4.0), Ch 6 "Uniform Circular Motion and Gravitation", section 6.1 Rotation Angle and Angular Velocity_

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Angular velocity is defined as the rate of change of which quantity?

  1. The radius of the circular path
  2. The linear speed of a point on the rim
  3. The rotation angle with respect to time
  4. The centripetal acceleration over time
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Correct answer: C. The rotation angle with respect to time

1. Angular velocity is defined as the rate of change of the rotation angle, the angle swept divided by the time taken. 2. The radius of the path is a fixed geometric property of the circle, not a rate of change, so it cannot be the angular velocity. 3. Linear speed at the rim is related to angular velocity through v equals r times omega, but it is a distinct quantity measured in meters per second rather than radians per second. 4. Centripetal acceleration is built from angular velocity and radius, not the rate of change of angle itself. _Source: OpenStax College Physics (CC BY 4.0), Ch 6 "Uniform Circular Motion and Gravitation", section 6.1 Rotation Angle and Angular Velocity_

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Calculate the angular velocity of a 0.300 m radius car tire when the car travels at 15.0 m/s.

  1. 12.5 rad/s
  2. 45.0 rad/s
  3. 50.0 rad/s
  4. 5.00 rad/s
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Correct answer: C. 50.0 rad/s

1. Because the tire rolls without slipping, the tire rim's linear speed equals the car's speed, so v = 15.0 m/s. 2. Angular velocity is omega = v / r. 3. Substituting the known values, omega = 15.0 m/s / 0.300 m. 4. That division gives omega = 50.0 rad/s. 5. 12.5 rad/s is the value for a much larger 1.20 m tire at the same speed, and 45.0 rad/s and 5.00 rad/s come from arithmetic slips in the division. _Source: OpenStax College Physics (CC BY 4.0), Ch 6 "Uniform Circular Motion and Gravitation", section 6.1 Rotation Angle and Angular Velocity_

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