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Tangential speed is the
speed In kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a non-negative scalar quantity. Intro ...
of an object undergoing circular motion, i.e., moving along a circular path. A point on the outside edge of a merry-go-round or
turntable A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding phys ...
travels a greater distance in one complete
rotation Rotation or rotational/rotary motion is the circular movement of an object around a central line, known as an ''axis of rotation''. A plane figure can rotate in either a clockwise or counterclockwise sense around a perpendicular axis intersect ...
than a point nearer the center. Travelling a greater distance in the same time means a greater speed, and so linear speed is greater on the outer edge of a rotating object than it is closer to the axis. This speed along a circular path is known as ''tangential speed'' because the direction of motion is
tangent In geometry, the tangent line (or simply tangent) to a plane curve at a given point is, intuitively, the straight line that "just touches" the curve at that point. Leibniz defined it as the line through a pair of infinitely close points o ...
to the
circumference In geometry, the circumference () is the perimeter of a circle or ellipse. The circumference is the arc length of the circle, as if it were opened up and straightened out to a line segment. More generally, the perimeter is the curve length arou ...
of the circle. For circular motion, the terms linear speed and tangential speed are used interchangeably, and is measured in
SI units The International System of Units, internationally known by the abbreviation SI (from French ), is the modern form of the metric system and the world's most widely used system of measurement. It is the only system of measurement with official st ...
as meters per second (m/s).


Formula

Rotational speed (or rotational frequency) measures the number of revolutions per unit of time. All parts of a rigid merry-go-round or turntable turn about the axis of rotation in the same amount of time. Thus, all parts share the same rate of rotation, or the same number of rotations or revolutions per unit of time. When a direction is assigned to rotational speed, it is known as rotational velocity, a vector whose magnitude is the rotational speed. ( Angular speed and
angular velocity In physics, angular velocity (symbol or \vec, the lowercase Greek letter omega), also known as the angular frequency vector,(UP1) is a pseudovector representation of how the angular position or orientation of an object changes with time, i ...
are related to the rotational speed and velocity by a factor of 2, the number of radians turned in a full rotation.) Tangential speed and rotational speed are related: the faster an object rotates around an axis, the larger the speed. Tangential speed is directly proportional to rotational speed at any fixed distance from the axis of rotation. However, tangential speed, unlike rotational speed, depends on radial distance (the distance from the axis). For a platform rotating with a fixed rotational speed, the tangential speed in the centre is zero. Towards the edge of the platform the tangential speed increases proportional to the distance from the axis. In equation form: v \propto \!\, r \omega\,, where is tangential speed and (Greek letter
omega Omega (, ; uppercase Ω, lowercase ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) is the twenty-fourth and last letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numerals, Greek numeric system/isopsephy (gematria), it has a value ...
) is rotational speed. One moves faster if the rate of rotation increases (a larger value for ), and one also moves faster if movement farther from the axis occurs (a larger value for ). Move twice as far from the rotational axis at the centre and you move twice as fast. Move out three times as far, and you have three times as much tangential speed. In any kind of rotating system, tangential speed depends on how far you are from the axis of rotation. When proper units are used for tangential speed , rotational speed , and radial distance , the direct proportion of to both and becomes the exact equation v = r\omega\,.This comes from the following: the linear (tangential) velocity of an object in rotation is the rate at which it covers the circumference's length: :v = \frac The angular velocity \omega is defined as 2\pi /T, where ''T'' is the
rotation period In astronomy, the rotation period or spin period of a celestial object (e.g., star, planet, moon, asteroid) has two definitions. The first one corresponds to the '' sidereal rotation period'' (or ''sidereal day''), i.e., the time that the objec ...
, hence v = \omega r. Thus, tangential speed will be directly proportional to when all parts of a system simultaneously have the same , as for a wheel, disk, or rigid wand. For tangential
velocity Velocity is a measurement of speed in a certain direction of motion. It is a fundamental concept in kinematics, the branch of classical mechanics that describes the motion of physical objects. Velocity is a vector (geometry), vector Physical q ...
vector (rapidity or speed is his norm or module) is the
vector product In mathematics, the cross product or vector product (occasionally directed area product, to emphasize its geometric significance) is a binary operation on two vectors in a three-dimensional oriented Euclidean vector space (named here E), and ...
:\vec = \vec \times \vec=, , \vec, , , , \vec, , \sin(, \Delta \theta, )\cdot\hat_n =\vec=\dot= Because of the right hand rule linear tangential velocity vector points tangential to the rotation. Where \vec= \hat_\beta is the angular velocity (angular frequency) vector normal to the plane of rotation of the body, where \beta is the angle (scalar in radians) of the rotational movement (similar to r that is the norm (scalar) of the translational movement position vector). \vec is the
position vector In geometry, a position or position vector, also known as location vector or radius vector, is a Euclidean vector that represents a point ''P'' in space. Its length represents the distance in relation to an arbitrary reference origin ''O'', and ...
(equivalent to radio) to the rotating puntual particle or distributed continuous body or where is measured the tangential velocity in a body. \hat_n is the normal (to the plane of \vec and \vec)
unit vector In mathematics, a unit vector in a normed vector space is a Vector (mathematics and physics), vector (often a vector (geometry), spatial vector) of Norm (mathematics), length 1. A unit vector is often denoted by a lowercase letter with a circumfle ...
. \theta are the angles of the vectors \vec and \vec in their common plane where they are, form or describe. Rapidity or speed v is the norm or module of velocity vector \vec: v=, , \vec, , = , , \vec \times \vec, , = , , \vec, , , , \vec, , \sin(, \Delta \theta, )=v v=, , \vec, , = , , \vec \times \vec, , = , , \vec, , , , \vec, , =\omega r=v Only if: \sin(, \Delta \theta, )=1, when: , \Delta \theta, =, \theta_\vec-\theta_\vec, = =90^o , when: \vec \perp \vec which means that angular velocity vector is orthogonal (perpendicular) to the position vector. Tangential acceleration \vec is: \vec=\vec\times ( \vec \times \vec)=\ddot


References

* * Richard P. Feynman, Robert B. Leighton, Matthew Sands.
The Feynman Lectures on Physics ''The Feynman Lectures on Physics'' is a physics textbook based on a great number of lectures by Richard Feynman, a Nobel laureate who has sometimes been called "The Great Explainer". The lectures were presented before undergraduate students ...
, Volume I
Section 8–2
Addison-Wesley Addison–Wesley is an American publisher of textbooks and computer literature. It is an imprint of Pearson plc, a global publishing and education company. In addition to publishing books, Addison–Wesley also distributes its technical titles ...
, Reading, Massachusetts (1963). . {{Authority control Physical quantities Temporal rates Velocity