Primary Resources

Radial Acceleration (Centripetal) chapter:

and Net Radial Force (Centripetal) chapter:

    Warning: careful consideration must be made when using the term centripetal force, as it implies an actual force, separate from others, in the radial direction. The term centripetal is referring to the net effect of all the real forces when an object is in UCM. In the case of UCM the net force is in the radial direction and that net force (from real forces) is called the centripetal force. Often students will describe a centripetal force as a source rather than a description of the phenomena, to avoid this make sure to describe what type of force is causing the centripetal force i.e. a normal force on a roller coaster, a friction force between a car and a race track etc.

Secondary Resources

Secondarily the Circular Motion page by PhysClips, an Australia physics education project has excellent clips with animation that describe most of UCM including the directions of some very important vectors. Make sure to watch the Uniform Circular Motion clip and the Centripetal Acceleration clip under Circular Motion in the module. Don't forget to take notes! *Aside: remember that a differential or dv implies a very small change in velocity in this case and the a is just the average acceleration, which is still a vector.

Finally, the Physics Classroom UCM page offers a concise short description worth reading in addition to the textbook above.

Other Resources

The following are great sources of additional information and insights into UCM. Referring to these when studying or doing homework is highly recommended.

Another great video for studying with an enthusiastic teacher; Chris Doner UCM.

For review and to test you basic knowledge feel free to visit EasyPhysic Circular Motion page.

Finally, here is another section from chapter 6 of the OpenStax textbook on Fictitious Forces and Non-Intertial Frames as well as the Coriolis Effect.

Recall the Frames of Reference [1960] film that was introduced on the Newton's First Law section, this will help you understand fictitious forces much better.

A cool lecture slide that may have some useful bits for review and notes; Lehman College Physics slides.