Question

"A toy airplane flies clockwise at a constant speed in a horizontal circle of radius 8.0 meters. The magnitude of the acceleration of the airplane is 25 meters per second squared. The diagram shows the path of the airplane as it travels around the circle.

Calculate the speed of the airplane. [Show all work, including the equation and substitution with units.]"

Answer 1

For the answer to the question above, so at the instant, the acceleration of the airplane is southward, the direction of the velocity is also southward. The direction should be the same because it is both a vector quantity and it does not make sense if the direction and acceleration have different direction.

Answer 2

speed of the airplane: 14.14 m/s

Step-by-step explanation:

radius, r = 8.0 m

centripetal acceleration, a = 25 m/(s^2)

velocity, v = ?

Centripetal acceleration can be computed as follows:

a = v^2/r

Solving for v and replacing with data:

v = √a*r

v = √25 m/(s^2)*8.0 m

v = 14.14 m/s