Are My Concepts on Radial Acceleration and Displacement Incorrect?

Click For Summary

Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around concepts of radial acceleration and displacement in the context of rotational motion. Participants are exploring the relationships between angular velocity, arc length, and the integration of these concepts.

Discussion Character

  • Conceptual clarification, Mathematical reasoning, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster attempts to derive arc length using angular velocity and questions the correctness of their concepts. Other participants raise questions about the units of arc length and angular displacement, and discuss the integration of angular velocity versus tangential velocity.

Discussion Status

Participants are actively engaging with the problem, offering alternative approaches and clarifying concepts. Some guidance has been provided regarding the relationship between angular displacement and arc length, though no consensus has been reached on the best method to proceed.

Contextual Notes

There is a mention of confusion regarding the units of arc length and angular displacement, as well as the integration process involved in deriving these quantities. The original poster expresses uncertainty about their understanding of the concepts involved.

jisbon
Messages
475
Reaction score
30
Homework Statement
An object is undergoing circular motion in horizontal plane at fixed radius## r = 0.12m##
Radial acceleration is ##2+2t ##m/s
Calculate arc length the object swept through the first 2 seconds.
Relevant Equations
-
From what I understand,

##a_{r} = v_{tan}^2 /r##
##a_{r} = (r\omega)^2 /r##
##a_{r} = r\omega^2##
##\omega^2 = \frac{a_{r}}{r}##
##\omega^2 = \frac{2+2t}{0.12}##
##\omega = \sqrt{\frac{2+2t}{0.12}}##
##s =\int_{0}^{2} \sqrt{\frac{2+2t}{0.12}}##
After integrating, I still can't seem to get the correct answer which is 1.37m
Are my concepts wrong or..?
Thanks
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: Delta2
Physics news on Phys.org
jisbon said:
##s =\int_{0}^{2} \sqrt{\frac{2+2t}{0.12}}##
What are the units of arc length? What are the units of ##\int \omega dt##?
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: Delta2 and jisbon
A
tnich said:
What are the units of arc length? What are the units of ##\int \omega dt##?
Arc length has no units, ##\omega## has a SI units : rad s−1
I realized that when I integrate ##\omega## I will get angular displacement instead of arc length. So after I get the angular displacement I can just multiply it by radius to get the arc length?

EDIT: Solved~! Thanks for the reminder
 
Last edited:
jisbon said:
So after I get the angular displacement I can just multiply it by radius to get the arc length?
Or simply go with integrating the tangential velocity from your first expression and never care about angular velocity.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: Delta2
Orodruin said:
Or simply go with integrating the tangential velocity from your first expression and never care about angular velocity.
Oh yep, that's another alternative :)
 
jisbon said:
Arc length has no units
It has dimension length, so the SI unit is metres.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: Orodruin

Similar threads

Replies
1
Views
824
Replies
4
Views
2K
  • · Replies 10 ·
Replies
10
Views
2K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K
Replies
5
Views
1K
  • · Replies 17 ·
Replies
17
Views
1K
  • · Replies 12 ·
Replies
12
Views
2K
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
2K
  • · Replies 13 ·
Replies
13
Views
2K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
1K