A rock in a sling is swung around in a circle. How would the centripetal force change if the rock was 9 times lighter?

1 Answer
Nov 4, 2015

The force would be 1/9th19th of that required to spin the larger rock at the same speed.

Explanation:

The force required for angular acceleration is proportional to the mass and the rate of acceleration.
F = maF=ma
In this case we usually know either an angular speed (omegaω) or an instantaneous velocity (vv) and a radius (rr). So it's also correct to write either of these forms:
F=mv^2/rF=mv2r
F=mromega^2F=mrω2

In either case the force required changes in direct proportion to the mass. If m=9m=9 the force would be nine times larger than the case where m=1m=1.