What is Centripetal force: Definition and 561 Discussions

A centripetal force (from Latin centrum, "center" and petere, "to seek") is a force that makes a body follow a curved path. Its direction is always orthogonal to the motion of the body and towards the fixed point of the instantaneous center of curvature of the path. Isaac Newton described it as "a force by which bodies are drawn or impelled, or in any way tend, towards a point as to a centre". In Newtonian mechanics, gravity provides the centripetal force causing astronomical orbits.
One common example involving centripetal force is the case in which a body moves with uniform speed along a circular path. The centripetal force is directed at right angles to the motion and also along the radius towards the centre of the circular path. The mathematical description was derived in 1659 by the Dutch physicist Christiaan Huygens.

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  1. shintashi

    Basic Question about Centripetal Force

    Hi. I've been having some difficulty with calculating this equation, mainly because I've forgotten most of the equations over the years, and this is sort of a reverse algebra form of an equation I scarcely remember. (i.e., I'm screwed) Ok, here goes. Assume you have objects, as per...
  2. A

    Centripetal force on a car turning

    when a car is cornering on a banked road, what force provides the centripetal force? in my book it says that it is the horizontal component of the normal reaction, and the vertical component of the normal balances the weight. But i thought the normal reaction was equal to the component of the...
  3. D

    Centripetal force of the moon

    QUESTION: the mass of the moon is 7.3x10^22 kg and its orbital speed about the Earth is 1024m/s. The distance between the centers of the Earth and moon is 3.844x10^24 m. a) what is the value of the centripetal force acting on the moon? b) the mass ofthe Earth is 5.98x10^24 kg and the...
  4. M

    Homework help- centripetal force

    If there is a car with a mass of 1200 kg and the radius of the curvature is 25m, and the speed is 43km/h, what is the acceleration? How do I find the acceleration At what speed would the centripetal force equal the force of gravity? ( I got 15.7 m/s but I'm not sure if this is right)...
  5. K

    Centripetal Force and Acceleration

    I have a problem here that looks simple to me, but has been driving me crazy: Basically, it's an object weighing 3.33N at the end of a string of unknown length, which is in turn attached to a spring scale. The object is being spun in a circle with a radius of 1.49m. The person spinning the...
  6. I

    Centripetal force and Acceleration

    This is a weird question but live with me please. I was completing a math competition (www.comap.com)with my team today and when we finished I started wondering about that "room" airforce pilots and NASA astronauts go into. I can't remember the name of the "room" but it is where they get...
  7. N

    Centripetal Force of merry-go-round

    a) A 22 kg child is riding a merry-go-round that is rotating at 40 rpm. What centripetal Force must she exert to stay on if she is 1.25 m from its center? 40 rpm = 4.19 rad/s r = 1.25 m Ac = (4.19 rad/s)^2 * (1.25 m) = 21.95 m/s^2 F = (22 kg) * ( 21.95 m/s^2) = 482.9 N b) What...
  8. A

    Challenging physics problems uniform circular motion, centripetal force

    challenging physics problems...uniform circular motion, centripetal force here is the setup, we had a lab in class, in which a string was strung through a plastic tube. On on end, rubber stoppers were attached and in this case acted as a mass. On the other end, metal masses were hooked on to...
  9. T

    Centripetal force question

    What is the relationship between centripetal force,mass, radius, and period of motion? The motion is in horizontal loops Is there an equation for this?
  10. F

    Centripetal Force/ conservation of momentum/ etc

    Hi guys! I have solved some physics problems and was wondering if anyone would check over my work to reassure me of my answers? That would be great! 1) A pilot having a mass of 75 kg flies a plane in a vertical loop. At the top of the loop, where the plane is completely upside down, the...
  11. S

    Centripetal Force, the planets

    Browsing through my physics book... The book defines velocity as the limit(t->0) [Δx/Δt], which of course makes sense. An acceleration can occur in two ways: either the speed (speed= ||v||) changes or the direction of the velocity changes. Centripetal acceleration (||a|| is...
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