*** Welcome to piglix ***

Centrifugal force (fictitious)


In Newtonian mechanics, the centrifugal force is an inertial force (also called a "fictitious" or "pseudo" force) directed away from the axis of rotation that appears to act on all objects when viewed in a rotating frame of reference.

The concept of the centrifugal force can be applied in rotating devices, such as centrifuges, centrifugal pumps, centrifugal governors, and centrifugal clutches, and in centrifugal railways, planetary orbits, banked curves, etc., when they are analyzed in a rotating coordinate system. The term has sometimes also been used for the force that is a reaction to a centripetal force.

The centrifugal force is an outward force apparent in a rotating reference frame; it does not exist when measurements are made in an inertial frame of reference.

All measurements of position and velocity must be made relative to some frame of reference. For example, an analysis of the motion of an object in an airliner traveling at great speed could be made relative to the interior of the airliner, the surface of the Earth, or even the Sun or other stars. An inertial frame of reference is one that is not accelerating (including rotation). The use of an inertial frame of reference, which will be the case for all elementary calculations, is often not explicitly stated but may generally be assumed unless stated otherwise.

In terms of an inertial frame of reference, the centrifugal force does not exist. All calculations can be performed using only Newton's laws of motion and real forces. In its current usage the term "centrifugal force" has no meaning in an inertial frame.


...
Wikipedia

...