- #1
Rijad Hadzic
- 321
- 20
Homework Statement
A child swings a tennis ball attached to a .750 m-string in a horizontal circle above his head at a rate of 5.00 rev/s What is the centripetal acceleration of the tennis ball?
Homework Equations
angular speed [itex]\omega[/itex] = 2pi/T
speed = r[itex]\omega[/itex]
[itex]a_c = -v^2 /r [/itex]
[itex]a_c = -\omega ^2 r [/itex]
The Attempt at a Solution
So its 5 rev/s, or .2s in 1 revolution. Using angular speed I get 10pi radians per second
Plugging in,
[itex]a_c = -(10pi)^2 (.750 m) = -740 m/s^2 [/itex]
But my books answer is 740 m/s^2.
I don't understand why my answer is negative, even though I used the correct formulas. Does anyone know why?