centripetal acceleration?

Question

What is the centripetal acceleration of a body moving in a circle of radius 10.0 m at at constant speed of 5.0 m/sec?

a. 2.5 m/sec^2
b. 0.5 m/sec^2
c. 12.6 m/sec^2
d. 0.4 m/sec^2

formula?
please try to explain this problem thoroughly....please

Answer 1

Hi Shirley -

Centripetal acceleration is an acceleration vector that acts toward the center to turn an object in a circle. It is always perpendicular to the motion of the object itself, so it always acts to turn the object, not to make its speed faster or slower. The magnitude of the vector is v^2/r, which in this case = (5m/sec x 5m/sec / 10m) = 2.5 m/sec^2