As the centripetal force acts upon an object moving in a circle at constant speed, the force always acts inward as the velocity of the object is directed tangent to the circle. This would mean that the force is always directed perpendicular to the direction that the object is being displaced.
What is centripetal direction?
centripetal actually means - towards the center . So centripetal force is not a new type of force . Any force which is acting towards center can be called as centripetal force. To understand it better think of gravitational force , it acts in downwards direction so we call it downwards force because of its direction .
What is the direction of centripetal acceleration?
The acceleration is directed radially toward the centre of the circle. ... The centripetal acceleration ac has a magnitude equal to the square of the body's speed v along the curve divided by the distance r from the centre of the circle to the moving body; that is, ac = v2/r.
