Circular motion, Periodic motion, and Rectilinear motion. What is motion? An object moves from its position when a force is applied to it. In general, force (push or pull) results in the motion of an object.
What is Circular Motion?
Circular motion is described as a movement of an object while rotating along a circular path. Circular motion can be either uniform or non-uniform. During uniform circular motion the angular rate of rotation and speed will be constant while during non-uniform motion the rate of rotation keeps changing.
Some of the most common examples of circular motion include man-made satellite that revolves around the earth, a rotating ceiling fan, a moving car’s wheel, the blades in a windmill, and gears in gas turbines.
What is Periodic motion?
Periodic motion, in physics, motion repeated in equal intervals of time. Periodic motion is performed, for example, by a rocking chair, a bouncing ball, a vibrating tuning fork, a swing in motion, the Earth in its orbit around the Sun, and a water wave. In each case, the interval of time for repetition, or cycle, of the motion is called a period, while the number of periods per unit time is called the frequency. Thus, the period of the Earth’s orbit is one year, and its frequency is one orbit per year. A tuning fork might have a frequency of 1,000 cycles per second and a period of 1 millisecond (1 thousandth of a second).
What is Rectilinear Motion?
When we require only one co-ordinate axis along with time to describe the motion of a particle it is said to be in linear motion or rectilinear motion. Some examples of linear motion are a parade of soldiers, a train moving along a straight line, and many more.
Examples for Rectilinear Motion
Following are the rectilinear motion examples:
- The use of elevators in public places is an example of rectilinear motion.
- Gravitational forces acting on objects resulting in free fall is an example of rectilinear motion.
- Kids sliding down from a slide is a rectilinear motion.
- The motion of planes in the sky is rectilinear.
Major Differences between Circular, Periodic and Rectilinear motion:
CIRCULAR MOTION | PERIODIC MOTION | RECTILINEAR MOTION |
---|---|---|
DEFINITION | ||
The motion of an object in a circular path is called circular motion. | The motion of an object which repeats itself after a certain period of time is called periodic motion. | The motion of the object in a straight line path is called rectilinear motion |
EXAMPLES | ||
Children playing ringa-ringa roses or moving in a circle, the motion of Earth around the Sun. | The motion of Earth around the sun is periodic as well as circular as it repeats its motion after a time of 365 days. The motion of the simple pendulum is periodic. The motion of minute and second hand in a watch is periodic | The motion of the train on the track, the motion of ants in a straight path, the motion of freely falling stone from the top of the building towards the ground. |
Also, Read Difference Between Force and Pressure.