Laboratory 5: Circular Motion

In this lab you will be exploring uniform circular motion and centripetal acceleration. The animation below contains a puck resting on an air hockey table. The puck is attached to a string and is given an initial tangential push such that it travels in a circle at constant speed.

Run Animation

1. What is the speed of the puck?

0.94 m/s
1.36 m/s
3.25 m/s

2. How did you calculate this answer?

3. What is the magnitude of the acceleration of the puck?

0.85 m/s²
1.5 m/s²
1.9 m/s²
2.3 m/s²

4. How did you calculate this answer?

5. What is the direction of the puck's acceleration at t=5 sec?

up
down
left
right

6. If the string broke at exacty t=5 sec, which direction would the puck travel afterward?

straight up
up and to the right
up and to the left
horizontally to the left

7. Explain your answer to the previous question.