as: where is the unit (inward) normal vector to the particle's trajectory (also called the principal normal), and is its instantaneous radius of curvature based upon the osculating circle at time . These components are called the tangential acceleration and the normal or radial acceleration (or centripetal acceleration in circular motion, see also circular motion and centripetal force). Geometrical analysis of three-dimensional space curves, which explains tangent, (principal) normal and binormal, is described by the Frenet–Serret formulas. Special cases Uniform acceleration Uniform or constant acceleration is a type of motion in which the velocity of an object changes by an equal amount in every equal time period. A frequently cited example of uniform acceleration is that of an object in free fall in a uniform gravitational field. The acceleration of a falling body in the absence of resistances to motion is dependent only on the gravitational field strength (also called acceleration due to gravity). By Newton's Second Law the force acting on a body is given by: Because of the simple analytic properties of the case of constant acceleration, there are simple formulas relating the displacement, initial and time-dependent velocities, and acceleration to the time elapsed: where is the elapsed time, is the initial displacement from the origin, is the displacement from the origin at time , is the initial velocity, is the velocity at time , and is the uniform rate of acceleration. In particular, the motion can be resolved into two orthogonal parts, one of constant velocity and the other according to the above equations. As Galileo showed, the net result is parabolic motion, which describes, e.g., the trajectory of a projectile in vacuum near the surface of Earth. Circular motion In uniform circular motion, that is moving with constant speed along a circular path, a particle experiences an acceleration resulting from the change of the direction of the velocity vector, while its magnitude remains constant. The derivative of the location of a point on a curve with respect to time, i.e. its velocity, turns out to be always exactly tangential to the curve, respectively orthogonal to the radius in this point. Since in uniform motion the velocity in the tangential direction does not change, the acceleration must be in radial direction, pointing to the center of the circle. This acceleration constantly changes the direction of the velocity to be tangent in the neighboring point, thereby rotating the