Centrifulgal Force....?

Question

Can anybody explain what the centrifulgal force is? I know that it is the point that the moon and the Earth orbit but i'm not 100% sure how/where/what this is :S An explaination in laymans terms may be best :P

Answer 1

I'll keep is simple for you. There are two forces acting opposite of each other. And they are NOT the same thing.

CentRIPETAL force is what acts to keep you sucked INTO a spinning circle and keeps you from flying away. Examples are the force of gravity, and the force exerted by the mechanical constraints to keep you in place in a spinning ride at an amusement park.

CentRIFUGAL force is what tends to make you fly outward, and pushes against gravity or the spinning ride.

I don't know why some people keep claiming there is no such thing as centrifugal force --of course there is. Perhaps those people have never looked up the world "force" in a dictionary. The centrifugal force is explained by inertia, just as centripetal force is often explained by gravity which in turned is explained by the curvature of spacetime as propagated by gravitons. But they are all forces.

Answer 2

Centrifugal force (from Latin centrum "center" and fugere "to flee") is a term which may refer to two different forces which are related to rotation. Both of them are oriented away from the axis of rotation, but the object on which they are exerted differs.

A real or "reactive" centrifugal force occurs in reaction to a centripetal acceleration acting on a mass. This centrifugal force is equal in magnitude to the centripetal force, directed away from the center of rotation, and is exerted by the rotating object upon the object which imposes the centripetal acceleration. Although this sense was used by Isaac Newton,[1] it is only occasionally used in modern discussions.[2][3][4][5]
A pseudo or "fictitious" centrifugal force appears when a rotating reference frame is used for analysis. The (true) frame acceleration is substituted by a (fictitious) centrifugal force that is exerted on all objects, and directed away from the axis of rotation.
Both of the above can be easily observed in action for a passenger riding in a car. If a car swerves around a corner, a passenger's body seems to move towards the outer edge of the car and then pushes against the door.

In the reference frame that is rotating together with the car (a model which those inside the car will often find natural), it looks as if a force is pushing the passenger away from the center of the bend. This is a fictitious force--not an actual force exerted by some other object. The illusion occurs when the reference frame is the car, because that ignores the car's acceleration. A number of physicists treat it much as if it were a real force, as they find that it makes calculations simpler and gives correct results.

However, the force with which the passenger pushes against the door is very real. That force is called a reaction force because it results from passive interaction with the car which actively pushes against the body. As it is directed outward, it is a centrifugal force. Note that this real centrifugal force does not appear until the person touches the body of the car. The car also exerts an equal but opposite force on the person, called "centripetal force". In this case the centrifugal force is canceled by the centripetal force, and the net force is zero, thus the person does not accelerate with respect to the car.

Answer 3

There is no such thing as "centrifugal force." This is a common misnomer for centripetal force. The centripetal force is a force that acts on a body traveling on a curved path, and it always acts towards the center of curvature. Sometimes the reaction force that acts against the centripetal force is called a centrifugal force, but such usage is rare and not part of modern scientific discussions.

When one body orbits another, like the Moon orbiting the Earth, both bodies in actuality orbit the barycenter, which is the center of mass of the system of two bodies. The centripetal force is supplied by gravity, which acts on both bodies towards the barycenter. In the case of the Moon and Earth, the barycenter is below the Earth's surface, but not at its center. So the Moon appears to orbit the Earth, while the Earth itself wobbles slightly. On the other hand, the barycenter of the Pluto-Charon system is outside of Pluto, so the dwarf planet and its moon actually orbit a point in space; as a result, the bodies may eventually be re-classified as a double dwarf planet, rather than a dwarf planet and its moon.

Answer 4

The apparent force that seems to draw a rotating body away from the centre of rotation; it is equal and opposite to the centripetal force and is a consequence of the body's inertia.

Answer 5

If you imagine swinging a bucket of water around your head at speed, then the water will not fall out. This is the centrifugal force. However if you slow down you get wet. That is no centrifugal force.

Answer 6

Centifugal force is a term which may refer to two different forces which are related to rotation. (from Latin centrum "center" and fugere "to flee"). it is directed outwards. Any time the word Centrifugal Force is used, what is really being described is a Lack-of-Centripetal Force.
also check Centripetal Force because they are related

Answer 7

in simple terms, centrifugal force is the pull on a body as it rotates around an axis. example, you hit a tennis ball on a bit of string round a pole. harder you hit, stronger the centrifugal pull(or force). by the way, cant remember the name of that tennis pole thingy.

Answer 8

Could it be a magnetic phenomenon. Since rotation cause internal twisting of a volume of space?

Answer 9

the force expierienced by a body moving fast in a circular path is
called centrifugal force.

Answer 10

I'm a pacifist, and against ANY type of Force...