Final answer:
No work is done by the centripetal force during uniform circular motion as the force is perpendicular to the direction of motion, and therefore there's no displacement in the direction of the force.
Step-by-step explanation:
When a body moves in a perfect circle at a constant speed, the centripetal force that acts towards the center of the circular path does indeed accelerate the body by changing its direction of motion. However, this centripetal force does not do any work on the body because work is defined as a force causing a displacement in its direction--and here, the force is perpendicular to the displacement. The velocity's direction changes, but its magnitude remains constant because there is no component of force along the direction of motion. Hence, no work is done by the centripetal force in the case of uniform circular motion. This is similar to the example of a magnetic force acting on a charged particle moving perpendicular to a uniform magnetic field; it provides the required centripetal force for circular motion but does not do any work as it is orthogonal to the particle's velocity.