Question

Josh has a toy car of mass 3 kg tied to a string of length 2 m. He ties the string to a pole and has the toy car drive in a circle around the pole at a speed of 3 m/s. a) what is the centripetal force

Answer 1

When anything moves in a circle, the centripetal force
acting on it is

               Force  =  (mass) x (centripetal acceleration)

                          =   (mass) x (speed² / radius of the circle) .

So          Force = (3 kg) x (3 m/s)² / (2 m)

                         = (3 kg) x (9 m²/s²) / (2 m)

                         =  (27 kg-m²/s²) / (2 m)

                         =    13.5  kg-m/s²    =    13.5 Newtons