Question

A child sits 6 m away from the center of the merry go round. The centripetal acceleration acting on the child’ is 3.6 m/s^2. What is the tangential velocity of the child?

A 4.65 m/s
B 21.6
C 0.6 m/s
D 1.67 m/s

Answer 1

The centripetal acceleration is related to the tangential velocity according to the equation below.

a=v²/r where v is the tangential velocity and r the radius of the circular path.

thus v²=a×r

From the question provided, r=6m acceleration= 3.6m/s²

Therefore using these values in the formula v²=a×r

v=√(3.6×6)

v=√21.6

v=4.65

The answer is A. 4.65 m/s