Angular Acceleration Calculator

About this calculator

Angular acceleration (α) measures how quickly a rotating object's angular velocity (ω) changes over time, expressed as α = (ω_f − ω_i) / t and measured in radians per second squared. It is the rotational counterpart of linear acceleration in the same way angular velocity is the counterpart of linear velocity, and it appears throughout rotational kinematics wherever something spins up, slows down, or changes its rate of rotation — a motor shaft ramping up to operating speed, a centrifuge accelerating to its target RPM, a wheel skidding to a stop, or a figure skater's spin speeding up as they pull their arms in.

Mechanical and electrical engineers use angular acceleration to size motors and drivetrains (since torque relates to angular acceleration through a body's moment of inertia via τ = Iα), physics students use it as the rotational analogue of the standard SUVAT kinematics equations, and robotics and animation software use it to model realistic joint and rotor motion.

This calculator takes an initial and final angular velocity and a time interval and returns the angular acceleration.