( P.19) Tangential Acceleration

In summary, the problem is asking for the acceleration of a point on the edge of a circular disk rotating at a constant angular speed of 5.0 rev/s with a radius of 0.010 m. The solution is found using the formula a_c=rω^2, where r is the radius and ω is the angular speed converted to radians. After conversion, the centripetal acceleration is found to be 9.9 m/s^2.
  • #1
gcombina
157
3
A circular disk of radius 0.010 m rotates with a constant angular speed of 5.0 rev/s. What is the acceleration of a point on the edge of the disk?
answer is 9.9 m/s ^2

My attempt:
The problem is asking me for the tangential acceleration of the disk.
At = rα

so to solve the above equation i need the value of α

the problem just gave me the velocity , so can i use that velocity in lie of acceleration? why not!?
 
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  • #2
gcombina said:
A circular disk of radius 0.010 m rotates with a constant angular speed of 5.0 rev/s. What is the acceleration of a point on the edge of the disk?
answer is 9.9 m/s ^2

My attempt:
The problem is asking me for the tangential acceleration of the disk.
At = rα

If the angular speed is constant, then α (angular acceleration) is zero, right?

(The derivative of a constant is zero.)
(In other words, angular speed is not changing.)

Therefore the tangential acceleration is zero.

gcombina said:
The problem is asking me for the tangential acceleration of the disk. 
The question is not asking for the tangential acceleration, it just asked for the acceleration.What other acceleration could it be talking about?EDIT:
It could be asking for tangential acceleration, but that's not what it's specifically asking for, it's just asking for whatever acceleration there is (whether it's in the tangent direction or some other direction)
 
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  • #3
it is asking for LINEAR acceleration right?
or CENTRIPETAL acceleration
I would totally say that because the disk is in constant speed and the acceleration of the whole disk is 0 m/s^2 but the answer is 9.9 m/s^2
 
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  • #4
gcombina said:
it is asking for LINEAR acceleration right?

It's asking for centripetal acceleration :)
 
  • #5
aha,OK let me see now...
 
  • #6
so I got for centripetal acceleration = rw^2
I converted 5.0 rev to rads so I got 31.414=5 rad/s

then I plug in

= (0.010 m) (31.415 /s)^2
= 9.9 m/s^2

Question
When I do the convertion from 5.0 to radians. Do I need to convert that 5.0 rev to radians??

for example i had
= (5.0 rev/s) (2 pi radians/1 rev)
= (5.0 rev/s) [(2) (3.1415 rad/1 rev)]
= (5.0 rev/s) (6.283 rad/1 rev)
= 31.415 rad/s (final answer) (do I really need to put say 1 rev = 2 pi rad?
 
  • #7
gcombina said:
Question
When I do the convertion from 5.0 to radians. Do I need to convert that 5.0 rev to radians??

Yes. The centripetal acceleration formula is:

[itex]a_c=\frac{v^2}{r}=\frac{(ωr)^2}{r}=rω^2[/itex]

If ω was measured in anything other than radians (like revolutions) then [itex]ωr=v[/itex] would not be true.
(and so the above formula would not simplify to [itex]a_c=rω^2[/itex])
 

Related to ( P.19) Tangential Acceleration

What is tangential acceleration?

Tangential acceleration is the rate of change of an object's tangential velocity, which is the speed and direction of an object's motion along a curved path.

How is tangential acceleration calculated?

Tangential acceleration can be calculated using the formula a = v^2/r, where a is the tangential acceleration, v is the tangential velocity, and r is the radius of the curved path.

What is the difference between tangential and centripetal acceleration?

Tangential acceleration is the change in tangential velocity, while centripetal acceleration is the change in direction of an object's motion along a curved path. Tangential acceleration is always perpendicular to the centripetal acceleration.

What factors affect tangential acceleration?

The tangential acceleration of an object is affected by its tangential velocity, the radius of the curved path, and any external forces acting on the object.

Why is tangential acceleration important in physics?

Tangential acceleration is a key concept in understanding the motion of objects along curved paths, such as in circular motion or orbits. It helps scientists and engineers calculate the forces and velocities needed for objects to move along these paths accurately.

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