Use an example to describe the difference between tangential and centripetal acceleration

Say you are holding a thread to the end of which is tied a stone. Now when you start whirling it around you will notice that two forces have to be applied simultaneously. One which pulls the thread inwards and the other which throws it sideways or tangentially.

Both these forces will generate their respective accelerations.

The one pointed inwards will generate centripetal or radial acceleration.

The one pointing sideways will generate tangential acceleratio

Explanation:

A major difference between tangential acceleration and centripetal acceleration is their direction

Centripetal means “center seeking”. Centripetal acceleration is always directed inward.

Tangential acceleration is always directed tangent to the circle.

Tangential acceleration results from the change in magnitude of the tangential velocity of an

object. An object can move in a circle and not have any tangential acceleration. No tangential

acceleration simply means the angular acceleration of the object is zero and the object is moving

with a constant angular velocity