A particle is said to be undergoing uniform circular motion if its radius vector in appropriate coordinates has the form , where

Geometrically, uniform circular motions means that moves in a circle in the -plane with some radius at constant speed. The quantity is called the angular velocity of . The speed of is

and the acceleration of P has constant magnitude

and is directed toward the center of the circle traced by . This is called centripetal acceleration.

Ignoring the ellipticity of their orbits, planet show nearly uniform circular motion about the Sun. (Although due to orbital inclinations, the orbital planes of the different planets are not necessarily coplanar.)

See also

Angular Velocity, Circle, Ellipse, Simple Harmonic Motion

This entry contributed by David Terr

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Cite this as:

Terr, David. "Uniform Circular Motion." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Resource, created by Eric W. Weisstein. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/UniformCircularMotion.html

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