Someone is performing a hammer throw, where they spin in a circle swinging a ball on the end of a rope. As they spin at a constant speed, which direction is the ball accelerating?

Question

away from the person

in the direction of the spin, tangent to the circle

in the direction opposite the spin, tangent to the circle

towards the person

Answer 1

In a hammer throw, as the athlete spins and swings the ball at the end of the rope, the ball is moving in a circular path. Even though the speed is constant, the direction of the ball is constantly changing, which means it is experiencing centripetal acceleration.

Centripetal acceleration is always directed towards the center of the circular path. In this case, since the person is at the center of the circle they are creating while spinning, the ball is accelerating towards the person.

So, the correct answer is:

towards the person.