Motion of a particle in a circular path. Suppose that the path of the particle P is a circle in the Cartesian plane, with centre at the origin O and radius r0. Let r, v, and a be the position vector, velocity, and acceleration of P. If P has polar coordinates (r0, θ), then
Let er = i cos θ + j sin θ and eθ = −i sin θ + j cos θ, so that er and eθ are rotations of i and j by θ anticlockwise. Then the previous equations become
If the particle, of mass m, is acted on by a force F, where , then the equation of motion gives and . If the transverse component F2 of the force is zero, then constant and the particle has constant speed.
See also angular acceleration, angular velocity, radial and transverse components.