About Lesson
Uniform circular motion
When an object follows a circular path at a constant speed, the motion is called uniform circular motion.
- Velocity at any point is along the tangent at that point in the direction of motion.
- Average velocity between two points is always perpendicular to Average displacement. Also, average acceleration is perpendicular to average displacement.
- For an infinitely small time interval, Δtà 0, the average acceleration becomes instantaneous acceleration which means that in uniform circular motion the acceleration of an object is always directed towards the center. This is called centripetal acceleration.
Quantity | Values |
Centripetal Acceleration | ac = v2/R, R – radius of the circleac = ω2R, ω – angular speedac = 4π2ν2R, ν – frequency |
Angular Distance | Δθ = ω Δt |
Speed | v = Rω |