Question

The picture above shows a child (small brown circle ) from above on a playground ride (large grey circle) that spins horizontally. The arrows show the direction of rotation of the ride.
The ride is NOT rotating at constant speed, but is slowing down.
Which of the following arrows best represents the direction of the tangential; acceleration of the child at the location in the picture?

• A. Top
• B. Bottom
• C. Left
• D. Right
• E. All of them

Answer 1

The correct option is B Bottom

For objects that move with uniform circular motion,the acceleration is always directed towards the center of circular path.

In this case, the object is slowing down as he is moving in a circular path. He not only has a component of acceleration down toward the center of circle (because of circular motion), but he also has a component of acceleration opposite the direction he is moving, since he is slowing down(acceleration toward the right in the picture).

The combination of these two accelerations gives him an overall acceleration that is down and to the right in the picture

so the correct choice is "b"