2024 Motion in a PlaneUniform Circular Motion Easy Question 1 of 5 in Uniform Circular Motion

A particle moving with uniform speed in a circular path maintains;

A constant velocity but varying acceleration.
B varying velocity and varying acceleration.
C constant velocity.
D constant acceleration.

The answer is B.

Solution

In uniform circular motion, the speed is constant but the direction of velocity changes continuously; since velocity is a vector, it is varying. The centripetal acceleration has constant magnitude $\frac{v^2}{r}$ but its direction (towards the centre) keeps changing, so acceleration is also varying. So the particle has varying velocity and varying acceleration.

Concept Velocity and acceleration in uniform circular motion

Uniform Circular Motion in past papers

5 questions from this chapter have appeared across 5 exam years.