Physlet Physics by Christian and Belloni: Problem 3.17

3.1: Vector Decomposition
3.2: Motion on an Incline
3.3: The Direction of Velocity and Acceleration Vectors
3.4: Projectile Motion
3.5: Uniform Circular Motion and Acceleration
3.6: Circular and Noncircular Motion

Problem 3.17: Uniform circular motion of a wheel

Please wait for the animation to completely load.

A point (red) on a rotating wheel is shown in the animation (position given in meters and time given in seconds). Restart.

What is the period of the wheel (the time it takes the red point to complete one revolution)?
What is the speed of the red point?
What is the magnitude of the acceleration of the red point?
At t = 5.0 s, what is the direction of the velocity vector and what is the direction of the acceleration vector for the red point?

Problem authored by Aaron Titus with support by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DUE-9952323 and placed in the public domain.

Physlets were developed at Davidson College and converted from Java to JavaScript using the SwingJS system developed at St. Olaf College.