Why is force centripetal?

Answer 1

Centripetal force is not very difficult to understand, yet most people make it seem overly complex.

Centripetal force is an inward force applied to an object that is in circular motion (uniform circular motion). This inward force is what centripetally accelerates an object, which means the object is accelerating around the circle.

DO NOT EVER BELIEVE THAT THERE IS A CENTRIFUGAL FORCE. THIS FORCE IS FAKE, BECAUSE THERE IS NO FORCE THAT IS PUSHING OUT ON OBJECT TRAVELING IN UNIFORM CIRCULAR MOTION!!!!!!!!!!!!! All it means is that there is no centripetal force to stop an object from moving out of the circle.

An example is a car. If you are sitting in a car, when you go around a bend at a pretty decent speed, you seem to lean in the opposite direction of the turn. this is actually false. you are travelling in a straight line due to your inertia. When the car turns, you continue in that straight line, obviously you don't fly out of the car, because the car applies an inward force on you when you hit the side to keep you centripetally accelerating. Friction is one of the few forces that can stop an object from centripetally accelerating.

when i mentioned a straight line due to inertia, I am talking about the velocity of the centripetally accelerating object. This velocity vector is tangent to the circlular path of the object. So that means that if you wanted to whirl a rope over your head like a cowboy and throw a rock at something, you would have to let go of the rope when it was perpendicular to the target.

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