Hey students, lets discuss something interesting and important type of motion, i.e. circular motion. Just imagine that an ant is sitting on the tip of minute hand of clock and the minute hand is rotating about fix point, then which diagram will be traced by ant? Or try to imagine the diagram traced by children enjoying in merry-go-round, will it be a circle? Yes! The diagram will circle and the motion of object is known as circular motion.
The linear motion of object along the circumference of circle is known as circular motion. There are two types of circular motion viz;
1.) Uniform circular motion
2.) Non uniform circular motion
The uniform circular motion is one in which the speed of object remains same throughout the motion.
E.g. motion of planets around the sun, motion of electrons in orbit around the nucleus, motion of tip of second hand of clock.
Look at the following diagram in which a body is performing its motion along the circumference of circle.
Let, v = speed of particle
r = radius of circle
If ‘T’ is the time in which the particle completes one round along circumference, then the distance travelled by particle in one complete round is nothing but the circumference of circle. Then speed of particle performing circular motion can be given as,
Using above formula, and by knowing of circle and time for one rotation, one can determine the velocity of particle performing uniform circular motion.