452,790 views
37 votes
37 votes
A person swings a rock around on a string, causing it to sweep out in a circle of radius 0.90 m. If the rock travels at a constant speed of 5.1 m/s, what acceleration does it experience?

User Massaki
by
2.8k points

1 Answer

22 votes
22 votes

Given:

The radius of the circle, r=0.90 m

The constant speed of the rock, v=5.1 m/s

To find:

The acceleration of the rock.

Step-by-step explanation:

The acceleration acting on the rock in this case is called centripetal acceleration. The centripetal acceleration changes the direction of the rock at every point on its path keeping the rock in its circular path.

The acceleration of the rock is given by,


a=(v^2)/(r)

On substituting the known values,


\begin{gathered} a=(5.1^2)/(0.90) \\ =28.9\text{ m/s}^2 \end{gathered}

Final answer:

The acceleration experienced by the rock is 28.9 m/s²

User Legolas Wang
by
2.7k points