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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most physics is done in “inertial reference frames”, which basically means from the point of view of someone who’s moving at constant speed and not rotating. In an inertial reference frame, if you look at, say, a ball at the end of a rope that someone is spinning in a circle, there is no force moving outwards. The ball is moving exactly the way you’d expect if the only force on it is the tension of the rope, and that’s usually exactly how the situation is described.
It’s only when you look at that system from a reference frame that’s spinning along with it, for instance from the point of view of the person holding the rope and spinning, that there seems to be a centrifugal force. If they looked to their side at the ball as they spun, they would see the ball staying still in their vision. Since the rope is pulling the ball inward, there must be another force pulling outward to keep the ball “in place”, and that’s called “centrifugal force”
Since centrifugal force only really appears if you’re doing physics in a strange way (non-inertial reference frame), it’s considered a fictitious force. However, spinning reference frames come up often enough that it’s still often a useful concept.
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