Circular Motion Concepts and Equations - AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism

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Question

A 1.6kg ball is attached to a 1.8m string and is swinging in circular motion horizontally at the string's full length. If the string can withstand a tension force of 87N, what is the maximum speed the ball can travel without the string breaking?

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Answer

The ball is experiencing centripetal force so that it can travel in a circular path. This centripetal force is written as the equation below.

Remember that centripetal acceleration is given by the following equation.

Since the centripetal force is coming from the tension of the string, set the tension force equal to the centripetal force.

Since we're trying to find the speed of the ball, we solve for v.

We know the following information from the question.

We can use this information in our equation to solve for the speed of the ball.

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