What Determines the Direction of Centripetal Force and Acceleration?

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around understanding the direction of centripetal force and acceleration in circular motion. Participants are exploring the fundamental concepts related to these forces and their characteristics.

Discussion Character

  • Conceptual clarification, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster attempts to determine whether the direction of centripetal force and acceleration is inward or outward relative to the radius. Some participants suggest considering the practical scenario of keeping an object in circular motion to clarify the direction.

Discussion Status

The discussion is active, with participants engaging in reasoning about the relationship between force and acceleration. Guidance has been offered regarding the vector nature of these quantities, but no explicit consensus has been reached yet.

Contextual Notes

Participants are working within the constraints of a homework assignment, which may limit the depth of exploration into the topic. There is an underlying assumption that the concepts of force and acceleration are understood as vectors.

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Homework Statement


How do I find the direction of the centripetal force and acceleration?


Homework Equations


mv^2/r - centripetal force
v^2/r - centripetal acceleration

The Attempt at a Solution


Would it be inward or outward the radius?
 
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Think of this: If you wanted to keep a ball rolling in a circular path, which way would you push it (once it has started moving)? Towards the center or away from it?
 
So that would be the same for both acceleration and force?
 
Yes, because F=ma, where F and a are vectors and m is a (positive) scalar.
 

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