Watch the ball travel in a circle at a constant speed--the word uniform means constant speed. The arrow shows its velocity, and we leave two specific values, v0 and vf so you can see them. Once you see them, click on Leave Draggable Vectors which will produce copies of the two vectors that you can drag to a blank part of the screen to determine the difference, Δv (in red). The red vector can be used to show the vector change in velocity. Once you have found Δv, drag it back to the point to which it refers. What is the direction of the change in velocity? What is the direction of the acceleration? Wht is the angle between the velocity and the acceleration for uniform motion?
Please wait for the animation to completely load.
Leave Draggable Vectors.The following animation, shows v and a vectors as the object undergoes uniform circular motion. After a while ghosts of the v vectors are left on the screen. How does the direction of v relate to the circular path?
Problem © 2003 by Vern Lindberg (RIT) using Wolfgang Christian's Physlets. Adapted from Wolfgang Christian.