What is the centripetal acceleration for a vehicle moving at 20 m/s around a circular path of radius 40 m?

What is the centripetal acceleration for a vehicle moving at 20 m/s around a circular path of radius 40 m?

• A. 10 m/s^2
• B. 20 m/s^2
• C. 5 m/s^2
• D. 15 m/s^2

Answer: (A)

When an object moves in a circle, its velocity keeps changing direction, so it experiences centripetal acceleration toward the center of the circle. The magnitude is a_c = v^2 / r, where v is speed and r is radius. Here, v = 20 m/s and r = 40 m, so a_c = (20)^2 / 40 = 400 / 40 = 10 m/s^2 toward the center. The other numbers would come from misapplying the formula (for example, using v/r instead of v^2/r), which doesn’t give the correct acceleration.

When an object moves in a circle, its velocity keeps changing direction, so it experiences centripetal acceleration toward the center of the circle. The magnitude is a_c = v^2 / r, where v is speed and r is radius.

Here, v = 20 m/s and r = 40 m, so a_c = (20)^2 / 40 = 400 / 40 = 10 m/s^2 toward the center. The other numbers would come from misapplying the formula (for example, using v/r instead of v^2/r), which doesn’t give the correct acceleration.