Q.What do you understand by centripetal force? Obtain expression for it.
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Centripetal force is the net inward force required to keep a body moving in a circular path; its magnitude is .
Definition: Centripetal force is the resultant force, directed always toward the centre of the circular path, that is necessary to keep a body moving along that circular path (rather than moving off in a straight line, as it would by Newton's first law if no net force acted). It is not a new, separate kind of force — it is simply the name given to whatever net force (tension, gravity, friction, normal reaction, etc.) happens to be providing this centre-directed effect in a given situation.
Derivation of expression:
Consider a particle of mass moving with constant speed in a circle of radius . Although its speed is constant, its velocity direction is continuously changing, so it has an acceleration.
Let the particle's position vector make angle with a reference axis at time , so , and its velocity is always tangential, with magnitude .
Over a small time interval , the velocity vector changes direction by a small angle but stays constant in magnitude. The change in velocity , for small , has magnitude:
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