Tangential Acceleration Calculator

About this calculator

Tangential acceleration is the component of a rotating point's linear acceleration that acts along the direction of motion, tangent to its circular path, and it is what changes the point's speed as it moves, as opposed to centripetal acceleration, which points toward the center and only changes direction. It is calculated from the radius of the circular path and the angular acceleration with the formula a_t = r × α, where α is in radians per second squared.

Engineers use tangential acceleration to analyze anything that speeds up or slows down while rotating — a flywheel spinning up under motor torque, a gear tooth engaging under load, a centrifuge ramping to speed, or a point on a car wheel accelerating from a stop — since the total linear acceleration of that point is the vector sum of this tangential component and the centripetal component (a_c = r × ω²).

Enter the radius and angular acceleration and this calculator returns the tangential acceleration of a point on the rotating body.