Analyzing Motion in a Circle: Acceleration & Velocity

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SUMMARY

This discussion focuses on analyzing circular motion in relation to acceleration and velocity, specifically how a point mass can maintain circular motion around a heavy body. The key formula presented is v = √(ar), where "a" represents acceleration and "r" is the radius of the circular path. The conversation also touches on the stability of orbits when the force does not follow a 1/r² dependency. The user seeks to express circular motion parametrically with time as a variable, proposing X = U*t and Y = -a*t²/2.

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  • Basic knowledge of kinematics
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  • Explore the concept of centripetal acceleration in circular motion
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Physics students, educators, and anyone interested in the dynamics of motion in circular paths, particularly those studying gravitational effects and orbital mechanics.

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I was thinking about how planets revolve around sun. Although they subscribe a elliptical motion, my question is very similar.
A heavy body exerts a force on a point mass, say with an acceleration of "a". If we take the direction of this acceleration to be X, what is the linear uniform velocity with which it must travel in Y direction, so that the body travels in a perfect circle?..
Can we analyze this without taking any force into consideration, I mean the force exerted could be gravitational or magnetic, it doesn't matter. What matters is the acceleration "a", and the linear uniform velocity "u".
 
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If the motion of the point mass is such that its direction is perpendicular to the direction of the acceleration and its speed is v=\sqrt{ar} where r is the distance between the heavy body and the point mass, then the point mass will describe a circle of radius r around the heavy body.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circular_motion

If the force between the two bodies does not have a 1/r^2 dependency, then tiny deviations from circular motion may cause the orbit to be unstable.
 
Thanx..i want to actually try to describe the circular motion with time as variable. X co-ordinate of the motion would be U*t, while Y co-ordinate would be (-a*t^2/2). For a circle, since X^2+Y^2= R^2, how do I proceed to describe the circular motion, such that by only changing the value of t in small intervals, the corresponding values of X&Y co-ordinates would describe a circle.
 

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