Question

Does an object moving in uniform circular motion have constant centripetal acceleration?

True
False

Answer 1

The statement is False

Step-by-step explanation:

For getting an acceleration we must have a change in velocity and a change in direction too. Centripetal acceleration,which is responsible for the change in direction given by a=v^2/r. Now in uniform acceleration, the magnitude of velocity is constant but the direction varies, which means the angular velocity or speed is constant,hence the tangential acceleration is zero.

Answer 2

True

Step-by-step explanation:

An object moving in uniform circular motion is an object moving at constant speed on a circular path.

The centripetal acceleration of such an object is given by

`a=(v^2)/(r)`

where

v is the speed of the object

r is its distance from the centre of the trajectory

The object in the problem is moving in uniform circular motion: this means that its speed, v, is constant, and its distance from the centre, r, is constant as well. Since the centripetal acceleration depends only on these two quantities, then we can conclude that the centripetal acceleration is constant as well.