Why is Centrifugal force “not real”? I remember my physics teacher in high school pushing that idea and understanding why back then, but I do not remember now. I also forgot so much about physics in general that a simple would be much appreciated!
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Just to add to the other answers, yes, it only appears in a non-inertial reference frame.
You know what else is a fictitious force by that definition?
Gravity.
The sensation of gravity is the ground pushing you up to stop you following a “geodesic” (a path under free fall) to the centre of the Earth.
Astronauts on the ISS are in free fall, and thus in a pretty much inertial reference frame.
Whether a force is fictitious or not is kind of overblown IMO.
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