Question

A child attaches a rubber ball to a string and whirls it around in a circle overhead. If the string is 0.2m long and the ball's speed is 16 m/s, what is the ball's centripetal acceleration?

Answer 1

The centripetal acceleration,
`a_c = 1280 m/s^2`

Step-by-step explanation:

Centripetal acceleration is given by the formula:

`a_c = (v^2)/(r)`

Where the speed of the ball, v = 16 m/s

Length of the string, r = 0.2 m

Substituting these parameters into the centripetal equation above:

`a_c = (16^2)/(0.2)\\a_c = (256)/(0.2)\\a_c = 1280 m/s^2`