Periods & Angular Speed

Revolutions per second

An interactive lesson with 6 steps, about 5 minutes: you predict, drag and solve, with instant feedback on every answer. It runs in your browser and needs JavaScript.

What you’ll learn

• $v = 2\pi r / T$ and $\omega = 2\pi / T$, so $v = \omega r$.
• $a = v^2/r = \omega^2 r$.
• On a spinning object, points farther out move faster and accelerate more.

Steps

1. Describing a spin
2. A merry-go-round
3. Outside lane
4. A spinning record
5. Same spin, different speeds
6. Spinning Earth