Circular Motion

Question 1

How come even if an object has constant speed in a circular path, the object is still accelerating?

Answer 1

the direction of the velocity vector is changing

Question 2

What did the water jar do when being accelerating to the right, what did the water do? How could we tell in which direction the jar was accelerating by looking at the water?

Answer 2

The liquid tilts to the right and moves left. The direction of the jar accelerates in the same direction as the water tilts.

Question 3

What did the water in the jar do when put into circular motion?

Answer 3

The water is in accelerated motion. The speed of the water does not change, but the direction of movement is constantly changing.

Question 4

What does the term centripetal acceleration mean? What is ALWAYS the direction of a centripetal acceleration??

Answer 4

• Centripetal means “center seeking”
• The acceleration of any object which moves in a circular path always points toward the center of a circular path.