Is uniform circular motion an accelerated motion? Justify your answer.

What you should check to decide if motion is accelerated

Acceleration is not only about “speeding up” or “slowing down”. A body is accelerated whenever its velocity changes, and velocity includes both magnitude (speed) and direction.

Why uniform circular motion still has acceleration

In uniform circular motion, the speed $v$ is constant, but the direction of motion changes at every point on the circle. Since the velocity vector is always tangent to the circle, the tangent direction keeps rotating, so $\Delta \vec{v} \neq 0$ over any time interval.

The centripetal acceleration and where it points

That directional change requires an inward (radial) acceleration called centripetal acceleration. Its magnitude is

$$a_c = \frac{v^2}{r} = \omega^2 r$$

and its direction is always toward the center of the circle. The acceleration is perpendicular to the instantaneous velocity (for perfectly uniform circular motion).

Quick contrast: when would it not be accelerated?

Only straight-line motion with constant speed has zero acceleration, because then both the speed and the direction of velocity stay constant.

Takeaway

Uniform circular motion is accelerated motion because the object’s velocity changes direction continuously, producing a nonzero centripetal acceleration toward the center.