Question

What is radial component of centripetal acceleration at poles of earth?

Answer 1

Centrepetal acceleration is a = v^2/r  

where v is the speed of the earth and r is the radius of the earth.

Taking into account the radial components, the above equation becomes

  a = ((-v^2/r)*cosө) i + ((-v^2/r)*sinө) j

At the poles, the y-component becomes zero since ө = 0

∴ the above equation becomes,

 a = (-v^2/r) i   [∵cos0 = 1]

Hence, the radial component of centrepetal acceleration of earth at the poles is (-v^2/r)