Proof that Ac = (V^2)/R

[physicsnoob93]

Hey Guys

a lot of people were asking me how to prove that centripetal acceleration is v squared over r.
Well, i know quite a few people here might not know calculus, not that the calculus to prove it is very hard, but i prepared something for you guys. Its a beautiful proof which i like much more than any calculus proof.

Its slightly amateurish because i've never really done this before.

Hope it helps though, i think you can find the proof on wikipedia anyways.

You can ask me if you guys need anything else.

[sour_kremlin]

Never thought about it like that before. Cool.

[heafnerj]

This was published by Brownstein (AmJPhys 62(10), p. 946, October 1994). It was also in the PSSC materials.

[physicsnoob93]

Thanks.

Heh, i didn't know about the publications ><. Thanks, and sorry for not crediting before this.

[GoldPheonix]

Hmmm... I hate to say this, though the algebra is simple and the conclusion clear, the problem remains that students who struggle with calculus most likely will struggle with how the velocity and acceleration circles are related. I'm studying variational calculus and analysis right now, and it took me a few seconds to figure out how they were related.

Perhaps you could use some more words on how the two circles are related?

I think then this would be an excellent proof on how centripetal acceleration works.

[Ben473]

Hi, I though this was a great and interesting way of explaining it.

Ben