Question

Centripetal acceleration is

• A. A constant vector
• B. A constant scalar
• C. A magnitude changing vector
• D. Not a constant vector

Answer 1

Answer: (D)

Not a constant vector

Answer 2

Centripetal accelerations, $a_{c} = \frac{v^{2}}{R}$

Where v is the speed of an object and R is the radius of the circle.

It is always directed towards the centre of the circle. Since v and R are constant for a given uniform circular motions, therefore the magnitude of centripetal accelerations is also constant. However, the direction of centripetal accelerations changes continuously. Therefore, a centripetal acceleration is not a constant vector.