AP Physics 1 Set 4

uniform circular motion

occurs when an object moving on a circular path has constant speed

centripetal acceleration

is what turns the velocity vector to keep the object traveling in a circle. It will point towards the center of the circular path

centripetal force

the combination of forces that produce the centripetal acceleration. It will point towards the center of the circular path

newton’s law of gravitation

any two objects with mass in the universe exert an attractive force on each other

gravitational force

the attractive force between masses. Its strength is proportional to the product of the objects’ masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between their center of masses

universal gravitational constant

let it be G, then the strength of the gravitational force if given by the following equation: