Written by the Fiveable Content Team โข Last updated September 2025
Verified for the 2026 exam
Verified for the 2026 examโขWritten by the Fiveable Content Team โข Last updated September 2025
Definition
Rad/s^2 stands for radians per second squared and it measures the rate of change of angular velocity. It represents how quickly an object's angular velocity is changing over time.
Related terms
Vector quantity: A vector quantity has both magnitude and direction. In the case of rad/s^2, it not only tells us how fast the angular velocity is changing but also in which direction.
Rotational kinematics: Rotational kinematics deals with the motion of objects that rotate or spin. Rad/s^2 is an important concept in rotational kinematics as it describes how quickly an object's angular velocity changes over time.
Angular acceleration: Angular acceleration refers to the rate at which an object's angular velocity changes over time. It is measured in rad/s^2, just like rad/s^2 itself measures the same thing but without specifying direction.