State which of the following situations are possible and give example for each of these. (a) An object with a constant acceleration but with zero velocity. (b) An object moving in a certain direction with an acceleration in the perpendicular direction.
Answers
(a) The given statement is possible.
The word acceleration implies a change in the object’s velocity. One example of this is vertical particle projection. When an object is thrown upwards, the maximum height velocity of the body is zero, but the constant acceleration due to gravity is still working.
(b) The given statement is possible.
The object can move in a certain path with a perpendicular acceleration, in the case of circular motion. When an object is moving along a circular motion its path is along the circle tangent but the centripetal acceleration is towards the circle radius. We understand that with the radius, a tangent still makes a right angle. So when the object in a circular motion, the velocity and accelerations are in a mutually perpendicular direction.