Angular speed 2026-10-06
Angular speed is the nonnegative magnitude of angular velocity: . It measures the rate of rotation about an instantaneous axis without specifying its direction. For uniform circular motion of radius , the ordinary speed is .
Centripetal acceleration 2026-10-06
For uniform circular motion of radius and angular speed , the acceleration is directed toward the centre and has magnitude . Writing for the position relative to the centre gives . The required resultant force is ; it may be supplied by a normal force, gravity, or another physical interaction.
For the proposed circular motion,
The separation is , so the inverse-square force on particle 1 is
The equation holds exactly when
The equation for particle 2 follows by symmetry.