Physlet Illustration: Puck Traveling in a Circular Path

 

 

 
m = grams  v = m/s  r= m    
A puck travels in a circular path on a frictionless table, propelled by a string pulling from the center of the circle.  How does the tension in the string depend upon the mass, the speed of the block, and the radius of the circle?  You may adjust the mass (10 g < m < 500 g), the speed (1 m/s < v < 50 m/s), and/or the radius (.5 m < r < 3.5 m).  The tension is displayed on the screen.  

Hints

  1. If you only vary the mass, how does the tension change?
  2. If you only vary the velocity, how does the tension change?
  3. If you only vary the radius, how does the tension change?
  4. What is the centripetal acceleration of the puck?

Reference

See Walker, Section 6-5

Illustration written by Steve Mellema and Chuck Niederriter