What would happen if a ball attached to a string is swung in a vertical circle (the ball is traveling counterclockwise) and the string breaks at the very bottom of the circle. What would be the direction of the ball’s path right after the string breaks? I thought it would simply just be to the right because the direction of the velocity is tangent to the circle; however, I’m not sure this is correct.
In: Physics
You are correct. When the string breaks, the ball would be traveling to the right. There would be an unbalanced force causing it to accelerate downward causing it to follow an arc downward.. what is called a ballistic trajectory or just a parabola
Newton, an object in motion tends to stay in motion. You need some kind of force to change the speed or direction of an object (turning to the side is also acceleration, so it requires a force). The tether is constantly applying a force against the object, forcing it to turn in a circle. Once that force stops being applied, once the tether is released, the object will continue to go in the direction it was going. In this case, horizontally to the right.
Slings work the same way, although they release the tether at the top of the arc to create a quite deadly missile weapon.
It would be, at least at first. When you’re going in a circle your velocity is always tangent to the circle, but the instant the string breaks you start accelerating downward and your path would become a parabola.
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