9.1: Introduction Newton’s Second Law and Circular Motion
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I shall now recall to mind that the motion of the heavenly bodies is circular, since the motion appropriate to a sphere is rotation in a circle.
Nicholas Copernicus
We have already shown that when an object moves in a circular orbit of radius r with angular velocity →ω it is most convenient to choose polar coordinates to describe the position, velocity and acceleration vectors. In particular, the acceleration vector is given by
→a(t)=−r(dθdt)2ˆr(t)+rd2θdt2ˆθ(t)
Then Newton’s Second Law, →F=m→a can be decomposed into radial (ˆr−) and tangential (ˆθ−) components
Fr=−mr(dθdt)2( circular motion )
Fθ=mrd2θdt2( circular motion )
For the special case of uniform circular motion, d2θ/dt2=0, and so the sum of the tangential components of the force acting on the object must therefore be zero,
Fθ=0