Teaching non-uniform circular motion through real-world aircraft kinematics

This work proposes a new teaching method for teaching non-uniform circular motion by analysing real-world aircraft trajectories. The method uses video clips captured from Flightradar24, Tracker software for coordinate extraction, and Python scripting for analysing motion. Physical quantities such as total velocity, centripetal acceleration, tangential acceleration, bank angle, and load factor were calculated for different types of commercial aircraft. These calculations were verified against known standard values to confirm their accuracy. The velocity vectors and acceleration vectors both in normal and tangential directions were visualized on the aircraft trajectories. I believe that this method provides students with a connection between physical concepts and real-world examples. It also prepares the students with critical thinking, data acquisition, and analysis skills.