- #36
erobz
Gold Member
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Yes.nasu said:If by the index in the ##a_t## you mean tangent to the trajectory, then I think you don't need to correct. By definition, the tangential component of the acceleration is equal to the derivative in respect to time of the magnitude of velocity. There is no velocity perpendicular to the trajectory. "Radial velocity" may reffer to diection along a radius which is not normal to the trajectory in the point of interest. Like for eliptical motion. But here too the change in the magnitude of velocity is given by the component of the force which is tangent to the trajectory and produces a tangential acceleration.
## a_t ## is the tangential component of the acceleration. We were working in ##n-t## components.