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It is reasonable to apply the same terminology to circular motion that
we applied to oscillations in the
first week.
The period, T, for example, is the time needed to complete
one full circle. The frequency, f, is then just
1/T, or the number of full circles completed per unit time.
The amplitude, A, of the motion is given by the radius of the circular
motion since this defines the maximum distance from the origin along either
the horizontal or vertical axis. In fact, the connection, as implied
earlier, is even deeper since the y and x
position of an object in circular motion is given by
and
as we discovered
when considering the parametric representation
of a circle. However, these same sine and cosine functions describe the
position of a mass attached to a spring which oscillates back and forth.