Centripetal Acceleration

The Centripetal Acceleration calculator computes the centripetal accelerationCircular Motion which is the acceleration directed toward the center of a circular motion with constant angular velocity. 

INSTRUCTION: Choose units and enter the following:

• |v| - magnitude of the tangential velocity
• (r) - radius of the constant circular motion

Magnitude of Centripetal Acceleration |a|: The calculator the acceleration in meters per second squared.  However, the user can automatically convert this to other acceleration units via the pull-down menu.

The Math / Science

Note than if a mass is moving in this circular motion and is affected by this acceleration due to changing angular velocity, that mass will feel a force along the vector direction of `vec(a_"rad")`. 

The formula for the magnitude of acceleration in uniform circular motion is:

         `|a| = |v|^2/r`

where:

• a = acceleration in uniform circular motion.
• v = magnitude of tangential velocity
• r = radius of circular motion

Other Circular Motion Functions

• Angular Frequency as a function of orbital period,CLICK HERE.
• Speed of Circular Motion as a function of orbital period and radius, CLICK HERE.
• Radial Acceleration as a function of orbital period and radius, CLICK HERE.
• Acceleration in non-uniform Circular Motion, CLICK HERE.

References

• Light and Matter(Dr. Benjamin Crowell) Chapter 9.2  Uniform circular motion
• Light and Matter(Dr. Benjamin Crowell) Chapter 9.3 Non-uniform circular motion