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Investigate the relationship between the total energy and work done on an object executing uniform circular motion
- Work done on an object is defined as (dot product of force and displacement)
- (θ is the angle between displacement and direction of force applied)
- Since in circular motion , the direction of centripetal force is always radially inwards, it is always perpendicular to the direction of displacement.
- Hence
- Hence work done is zero
- Since there is no work done, there is no change in energy of an object due to circular motion, even though there is constant force acting on it.
Extract from Physics Stage 6 Syllabus © 2017 NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA)