what is centrifugal force?
In: Physics
So everything that is moving in a certain direction will want to keep moving in that direction, this is called momentum.
If you attach a ball to the end of a rope and start swinging it around in a circle, the ball will experience a centrifugal force. At any moment, the ball wants to head straight, because it has momentum, but the rope stops it from doing this. So there is a force here: we need the rope to overcome the ball’s momentum and pull it into the circular path.
This may seem a bit abstract so here’s an analogy:
Imagine you’re in a bus, and the bus goes around a corner. Let’s say the bus is turning left. You will feel like you’re being pushed to the right side of the bus. This is because the wheels on the bus tell the bus to go left, and because the bus is attached to the wheels it turns left. You are not fastened to the bus so your body wants to keep going in the direction it was going (momentum) because nothing has forced your body to change direction. This is the reason you are pushed to the right side of the bus: your body wants to keep going straight but the bus is turning left.
Now imagine the bus is turning left and then immediately turns left again (a U turn). Your body wants to go straight so the first left causes a force that turns your body in the same direction as the bus. Then the moment your body has also made the turn and is about to start going in a straight line again (and the force pushing you to the right side of the bus disappears) the bus turns left again, restarting the process.
Now imagine the bus is going around an endless corner. Endless corners are conveniently called circles. Every moment your body wants to go in a straight line but the bus forces it to change its path. You would feel a continuous force. This force is the centrifugal force.
It’s important to realise that the centrifugal force *does not point directly outwards*. It points in the direction the object would go if someone cuts the rope keeping it in a circular path. In the bus the force keeping it in a circular path is the friction between the tyres of the bus and the road. In the ball on a rope analogy it’s the rope.
I hope this answers your question!
Latest Answers