PHYS 101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Circular Motion, Speed, Weightlessness

• School: McGill University
• Department: Physics
• Course: PHYS 101
• Professor: Kenneth Ragan

Document Summary

Kinematics of uniform circular motion motion. called radial acceleration), and has magnitude: An object moving in a circle of radius with constant speed is said to be in uniform circular. It has a centripetal acceleration that is directed radially toward the center of the circle (also. The direction of the velocity vector and that of the acceleration are continually changing in direction, but are perpendicular to each other at each moment. A force is needed to keep a particle revolving in a circle, and the direction of this force is toward the center of the circle. This force may be due to gravity, to tension in a cord, to a component of the normal force, to another type of force, or to a combination of forces. When the speed of circular motion is not constant, the acceleration has two components, tangential as well as centripetal.