Question

What is centripetal acceleration? What is centripetal force? What purpose does centripetal force serve, and how can it be provided?

Answer 1

here,

Centripetal Force is the force acting on any moving body whose trajectory is not a straight line. This force is directed towards the center of what would be a circle whose circular segment corresponds to the curved trajectory being followed by the moving body

It is a vector that always points towards the center of a circle.

It is the force required to accelerate a mass around a central point.

Remember, for a mass to accelerate there must be a force applied.

a) It can be from tension on a rope that is keeping a swinging bucket around your arms, if you are swinging a bucket around your head.

b) It can be the force of gravity on a satellite around the orbit of the earth.

there may be more examples

Centripetal acceleration is the number you get when you divide Centripetal Force by the mass of the object the force is acting on

Centripetal force = centripetal acceleration x mass.

Centripetal acceleration is due to the fact that the direction of the speed of an object traveling in a circle is constantly changing, while most often the magnitude of the velocity is constant.

The formula for centripetal acceleration is v^2/r.
the purpose of this force is to move a particle in a circular path and it can be provided by any net force acting towards the center