Hi, i am having trouble understanding why centrifugal force is a “psuedo” force. Centripetal force holds an object in rotation pulling toward the centre , whereas centrifugal force is pushing the object outwards.
I have veen trying to watch videos but the examples dont really help.
For example, if im in a car going around a corner, the faster i go, the more the car wants to fly off the road.
Or if an object us on a spinning platform like a lazy susan, the faster i spin the lazy susan, the further away the object gets (until it falls off).
Is centrifugal force just the lack of centripetal force?
In: 5
It’s to do with how you look at things.
You’re sitting in a car that goes fast turning left around a bend. You feel yourself slam into the right side of the car. It feels like you’re being pushed outwards to the right.
But now, step outside the car and look down from above.
There are two objects. A person. A car.
One of the rules of physics is that if you are moving in a straight line, you need a force to make you change direction otherwise you keep going straight.
The person is going in a straight line. And will continue to do so under that law.
As the car goes around the bend, it moves left. The car therefore crosses the path of the person who was going straight. The side of the car makes contact with the person and pulls them to the left too.
Inside the car, the person feels centrifugal force of being pushed to the outside of the car. But that’s not what happens. They didn’t move to the right and hit the car. The car moved to the left and hit them.
That’s why it’s a pseudo-force. Nothing acted on the person to push them to the right of the car. But that’s what it feels like from their point of view.
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