Further mechanics and circular motion
Understand circular motion, centripetal acceleration, impulse and conservation of momentum in 2D
What you'll learn
- 1
Imagine a ball on a string. When you swing it around, it moves in a circle. The string pulls the ball towards the centre — that pull is the centripetal force!
- 2
What direction does the centripetal force act?
- 3
Look at this spinning ball. The red arrow shows the force pulling it towards the centre.
- 4
A 0.5 kg ball on a 1.5 m string moves at 3 m/s. Find the centripetal force.
- 5
Drag the mass and speed sliders to see how force changes.
- 6
If you double the speed, what happens to the centripetal force?
- 7
A car goes around a roundabout. What provides the centripetal force?
Practise Further mechanics and circular motion with Whizlo
Free AI-tutored lessons, unlimited practice questions, and progress tracking for ages 16–18. Aligned to the UK National Curriculum.