Centripetal and centrifugal forces are two terms used to describe the physics of circular motion — but only one of them is real. The centripetal force keeps an object moving in a circle and is ...

If a body rotates around an axis other than the one at its own center of mass, it exerts an outward force upon anything that keeps it from going in a straight line. This is the definition of ...

For me, I say that if the force is essentially one of the 4 fundamental forces then it is "real". With this definition, centripetal force would be real and centrifugal not real.

The so-called centrifugal force is an apparent force on the body directed away from the center of rotation.” I added the italics for emphasis. Let’s break that down.

In thinking about centripetal forces, I realized that I could come up with a situation in which the centrifugal force is the centripetal force. This is great. I can end all the confusion between ...

We are talking about Centrifugal and Centripetal forces using a tornado as an example. Centripetal force is a force that keeps an object moving in a circular path, this force points TOWARDthe ...