Gravitational Field Strength There is a universal force of attraction between all matter with mass This force is known as the ‘force due to gravity’ or the weight The Earth’s gravitational field is...
Circular Orbits Since most planets and satellites have a near circular orbit, the gravitational force FG between the sun or another planet provides the centripetal force needed to stay in an orbit ...
Newton's Law of Gravitation The gravitational force between two bodies outside a uniform field, e.g. between the Earth and the Sun, is defined by Newton’s Law of Gravitation Recall that the mass of...
Applications of Circular Motion Horizontal Circular Motion An example of horizontal circular motion is a vehicle driving on a curved road The forces acting on the vehicle are: The friction between ...
Centripetal Acceleration For an object moving in a circle: The acceleration is towards the centre of the circle The magnitude of the centripetal acceleration a is: Where: a = centripetal accelerati...
Centripetal Force An object moving in a circle is not in equilibrium, it has a resultant force acting upon it This is known as the centripetal force and is what keeps the object moving in a circle ...
Properties of Circular Motion For an object moving in a circle, it will have the following properties: Period Frequency Angular displacement Angular velocity These properties can be inferred from t...
Solving Problems Involving Magnetic Forces There is a lot of mathematics surrounding magnetism and magnetic forces The key equations are: Force on a current-carrying conductor: F = BIL Force on a m...
Magnetic Force on a Charge Calculating Magnetic Force on a Moving Charge The magnetic force on an isolating moving charge, such an electron, is given by the equation: F = BQv sinθ Where: F = force ...
