What’s on the Circular Motion poster
The rule, 3 worked examples, and the mistake everyone makes.
- Centripetal acceleration points toward the centre and has magnitude v² over r.
- a = v²/r = ω²r · F = mv²/r
- Car on a bend = Friction provides the centripetal force
- Satellite in orbit = Gravity provides it
- Ball on a string = Tension provides it
- Common mistake: Adding a 'centrifugal force' to the diagram → There is no outward force
Centripetal force is not a new force. It is the name for whatever real force happens to be pointing at the centre.
Questions about the Circular Motion poster
- What’s on the Circular Motion poster?
- The rule, 3 worked examples, and the mistake everyone makes. Centripetal acceleration points toward the centre and has magnitude v² over r.; a = v²/r = ω²r · F = mv²/r; Car on a bend = Friction provides the centripetal force; Satellite in orbit = Gravity provides it; Ball on a string = Tension provides it; Common mistake: Adding a 'centrifugal force' to the diagram → There is no outward force. Centripetal force is not a new force. It is the name for whatever real force happens to be pointing at the centre.
- Who is the Circular Motion poster for?
- Circular Motion belongs to the Physics section rather than to a school year, because physical science is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning mechanics can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
- When should you use the Circular Motion poster?
- Velocity changes direction constantly, so there is acceleration, so there must be a force. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Circular Motion belongs on the wall where that physical science work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
- What other posters go with Circular Motion?
- Free Body Diagrams, Friction & Drag and Gravitation sit alongside Circular Motion in the Physics section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.Free Body DiagramsFriction & DragGravitation
- Is the Circular Motion poster free to download and print?
- Yes. Circular Motion downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Physics section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
- What size does the Circular Motion poster print at?
- Circular Motion is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Circular Motion loses nothing.Printing guide
Related posters
Charts that sit alongside Circular Motion on the same wall.
Browse every Physics poster, or start from the full catalogue.