What happens when the acceleration vector is perpendicular to the velocity vector?

This means that the acceleration vector is perpendicular to the velocity vector if the speed is constant and the direction of the velocity changes.

Is the acceleration vector always perpendicular to velocity?

In circular motion the acceleration of the body is always perpendicular to the instantaneous velocity and that acceleration is called centripetal acceleration.

Why does the Centripital force not change the magnitude of the velocity?

Centripetal force being always perpendicular to the direction of the tangential motion along a circular path has no such available component to change the magnitude of velocity rather changing its direction.

Does centripetal acceleration remain constant?

The change in direction is accounted by radial acceleration ( centripetal acceleration ), which is given by following relation: ar=v2r a r = v 2 r . This means that the centripetal acceleration is not constant, as is the case with uniform circular motion. The greater the speed, the greater the radial acceleration.

Is centripetal acceleration constant in magnitude?

whose magnitude is constant, but whose direction is continuously changing. It follows that the object must be accelerating, since (vector) acceleration is the rate of change of (vector) velocity, and the (vector) velocity is indeed varying in time.

Why is the acceleration vector perpendicular to the velocity vector?

As rcgldr noted, the acceleration vector is perpendicular to the velocity only when the object is (instantaneously at least) in circular motion at constant speed. In this case the speed is constant but not the velocity. Acceleration is related to change of velocity. Velocity includes both magnitude (speed) and direction.

Is the acceleration vector constant or change with time?

The acceleration vector is constant and doesn’t change with time. If a, b, and c are not zero, then the velocity function must be linear in time. We have If any of the components of the acceleration are zero, then that component of the velocity would be a constant.

How do you get uniform circular motion from acceleration vector?

To get uniform circular motion you need to add some constraints to the acceleration vector. Uniform circular motion results if the curve is planar (i.e., has zero torsion) and if the acceleration vector is constant in magnitude and is always orthogonal to the velocity vector. The converse is also true.

What is the relationship between acceleration and velocity?

Acceleration is related to change of velocity. Velocity includes both magnitude (speed) and direction. Therefore if either the speed or the direction, or both, changes, you have acceleration. When an object’s velocity is constant, the object moves in a straight line at constant speed, and the acceleration is zero.