Distance of travel in circular motion?

In summary, Dave was trying to figure out the distance traveled in a circular motion. He needed to find the equation to determine the distance traveled.
  • #1
CommandoDude
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I'm trying to figure out the distance traveled in a circular motion. This is for a traffic court case, I need to figure out how far my car traveled in an intersection.

So far, I've only been able to find equations for determining speed. I have speed. I have time. I also have the radius of the circular movement (I measured the intersection and made an average to determine the curve because the turn was not a perfect circle). What I need is distance.

What would be the equation to determine the distance traveled?
 
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  • #2
CommandoDude said:
I'm trying to figure out the distance traveled in a circular motion. This is for a traffic court case, I need to figure out how far my car traveled in an intersection.

So far, I've only been able to find equations for determining speed. I have speed. I have time. I also have the radius of the circular movement (I measured the intersection and made an average to determine the curve because the turn was not a perfect circle). What I need is distance.

What would be the equation to determine the distance traveled?

Not being a perfect circle messes this up a bit but if it's not too far out the circumfrence of a circle is 2∏r with r being your radius. If i'ts a 90 degree turn then your distance would be ≈ 2∏r/4 or ∏r/2 for your distance. A 180 degree turn would be twice that.
 
  • #3
Hi there
welcome to PF :)

since its something that actually happened.
what is stopping from physically measuring that distance ?
through an intersection so it must be in the 10 - maybe 100metres max
that is easily measurable with a good tape measure etc
you, I assume are not talking about half a km (500m) ?

cheers
Dave
 
  • #4
mrgeorge said:
what is stopping from physically measuring that distance ?
through an intersection so it must be in the 10 - maybe 100metres max
that is easily measurable with a good tape measure etc

are you ok are you a parrot??

why repost most of my post ??
thats a very pointless thing to do


to the Mods
I was considering reporting his post but it didnt fall within the guidelines

DAve
 
  • #5
Also, if you have distance and time, you could use that, with [itex]\displaystyle\bar{\left|\vec{v}\right|}= \dfrac{\left| \vec{p}\right|}{t}[/itex], where p is the distance travelled.
 

FAQ: Distance of travel in circular motion?

What is the definition of distance of travel in circular motion?

The distance of travel in circular motion is the total distance that an object travels along its circular path.

How is distance of travel related to radius in circular motion?

The distance of travel is directly proportional to the radius in circular motion. This means that as the radius increases, the distance of travel also increases.

Is the distance of travel in circular motion the same as the circumference?

No, the distance of travel is not the same as the circumference. The circumference is the distance around the circle, while the distance of travel is the total distance an object travels along its circular path.

Can the distance of travel in circular motion be negative?

No, the distance of travel cannot be negative in circular motion. It is always a positive value, as the object is constantly moving in a forward direction along its circular path.

How is the distance of travel calculated in circular motion?

The distance of travel can be calculated using the formula: distance = 2πr, where r is the radius of the circle. This formula is derived from the circumference formula (C = 2πr) and represents the total distance an object travels after completing one full revolution around the circle.

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