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Conical Pendulum A ball at the lower end of a cord moves in a horizontal circle

ID: 2239590 • Letter: C

Question

Conical Pendulum A ball at the lower end of a cord moves in a horizontal circle at constant speed (it is a conical pendulum because the cord sweeps out a cone as the ball rotates). The length of the cord is L, the mass of the ball is m, and the angle the cord makes with the vertical is theta, What you will find is that, for a given fixed L, as theta increases Conical Pendulum A ball at the lower end of a cord moves in a horizontal circle at constant speed (it is a conical pendulum because the cord sweeps out a cone as the ball rotates). The length of the cord is L, the mass of the ball is m, and the angle the cord makes with the vertical is theta, What you will find is that, for a given fixed L, as theta increases cord makes with the vertical is theta, What you will find is that, for a given fixed L, as theta increases

Explanation / Answer

The horizontal tension in the string causes the bob to move in a circular path (that is, it causes a centripetal acceleration), so from Newton