What would happen if a ball attached to a string is swung in a vertical circle (the ball is traveling counterclockwise) and the string breaks at the very bottom of the circle. What would be the direction of the ball’s path right after the string breaks? I thought it would simply just be to the right because the direction of the velocity is tangent to the circle; however, I’m not sure this is correct.
In: Physics
It would be, at least at first. When you’re going in a circle your velocity is always tangent to the circle, but the instant the string breaks you start accelerating downward and your path would become a parabola.
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