Final answer:
Radial acceleration points towards the center of a circle and changes the direction of velocity, while tangential acceleration is tangent to the circle's path and changes the speed. Total acceleration is the vector sum of radial and tangential accelerations and describes the object's overall change in velocity along a curved path.
Step-by-step explanation:
In physics, the concepts of radial acceleration (also known as centripetal acceleration), tangential acceleration, and total acceleration are used to describe the different aspects of acceleration that can occur in an object moving along a curved path, such as in a circle.
Radial acceleration always points toward the center of the circle and is a result of the change in direction of the object's velocity. It is responsible for keeping the object in a curved path and is perpendicular to the object's velocity at any point. Tangential acceleration, on the other hand, is tangent to the circle and describes changes in the speed of the object as it moves along the curve, meaning changes in the magnitude of the velocity but not its direction. These two accelerations are independent and perpendicular to one another.
Finally, the total acceleration of the object in circular motion is the vector sum of the radial and tangential accelerations. This means that if both a radial and a tangential acceleration are present, the total acceleration will be at an angle to both but in the same plane, resulting from the fact that the tangential and radial accelerations are perpendicular to each other.