Does acceleration change in non-uniform circular motion?

[jasmaar]

Homework Statement

If an object is increasing speed at a constant rate around a circle, does the magnitude of acceleration change since there are both the tangential acceleration component (whose magnitude is constant) and the centripetal component (which changes in magnitude as the object increases in speed)?

 

[mikelepore]

You could check whether speed appears in the formula for centripetal acceleration and in the formula for tangential acceleration, and consider how centripetal and tangential acceleration combine to make up the total acceleration.

 

[Gear300]

The shape of the path depends on the strength of the centripetal force. a = v^2/r still holds for circular paths, even if there is a tangential acceleration. What happens is that the centripetal force accommodates the change. When driving a car and accelerating a curve, its because the static friction (centripetal force) is able to to increase to accommodate the increasing speed...although at some point it may not be able to handle it any further and you slide off.

 

[physixguru]

Write the relation for resultant acceleration.