• Question: How are centripetal forces related to centrifugal forces?

    Asked by The SpaceKidets to Alice, Bose, Christian, Emma, Steve on 16 Mar 2016. This question was also asked by VeKz CimZaGrO.
    • Photo: Emma Dean

      Emma Dean answered on 16 Mar 2016:

      Centripetal forces are the opposite of centrifugal forces.

      To understand what this means, imagine spinning around a ball on the end of a string (so you are holding the string, not the ball). As you watch the the ball flying round, it always follows a circular path. This is because the string exerts a centripetal force on the ball. It is this force which keeps the ball moving round in a circle instead of flying off in any direction. The centrifugal force is what the ball experiences. The ball feels like it is being pushed away from the string, just like when you are in a car going round a roundabout, you feel like you are being pushed away from the roundabout. This is the centrifugal force.

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