Question

A girl sits on a tire swing and is pushed in a circular motion by her father. Her tangential speed is 2.8 m/s and the girl travels in a circle with a diameter of 4.0 m. What is the girl's centripetal acceleration?

Answer 1

The problem can be solved by using the centripetal acceleration formula. This formula is shown below:

Ca = Vt^2 / r

Ca = centripetal acceleration = ?
Vt = tangential speed = 2.8 m/s
r = radius = 2 m

Substituting:

Ca = 2.8^2 / 2
Ca = 3.92 m/s^2