Discussion

Note that the plate rotates about point O. Therefore, O is the center of the circular paths of points A and B. From the animation above, we see that the velocities of A and B are tangent to their circular paths, as expected. The accelerations of A and B are NOT perpendicular to the paths of A and B since the speeds of A and B are increasing in time (and consequently, A and B each have positive tangential components of acceleration).

Initially, the acceleration for these two points is nearly aligned with velocity, since the speeds are small and therefore the centripetal components of acceleration are small. Near the end of the first revolution of the plate, the speeds have increased to the point where the centripetal components of acceleration dominate, and acceleration is nearly perpendicular to the path.

Solution hints
For Part a) of this problem, it is recommended that you use the rigid body kinematics equations using point O as the reference point, since the velocity and acceleration of O are zero. That is, you should use v_B = v_O + Ω x r_B/O and a_B = a_O + Ω_dot x r_B/O - Ω^2*r_B/O. Repeat the process for finding the velocity and acceleration of A.

For Part b) of this problem, it is recommended that you use the rigid body kinematics equations with point A first. This will give you the equations needed to find Ω_dot. Then, use the rigid body kinematics equations to find the acceleration of B.

Any questions?? Please ask/answer questions regarding this homework problem through the "Leave a Comment" link above.

We encourage you to interact with your colleagues here in conversations about this homework problem.

Discussion and hints:

Enlarged view

This problem is  a straight-forward application of the planar rigid body kinematics equations. The velocity and acceleration of the center of the disk are known, as well as the angular velocity and angular acceleration of this disk. To find the velocity and acceleration of point A on the disk, you can use the following:

v_A = v_O + omega x r_A/O
a_A = a_O + alpha x r_A/O - omega^2*r_A/O

Using the enlarged view above, we can see the interplay between velocity (blue) and acceleration (red) of point A. Using what we learned back in Chapter 1, can you identify times when the speed of A is increasing and when it is decreasing? (Hint: Look at the angle between the velocity and acceleration vectors.) Using the top view, we can see the path of point A - is that the path that you expected for A?