centrifugal

A couple of commenters expressed concern over the use of centrifugal force after my rant on the use of the word force. So, what is the deal with these two terms? Are they ok to use? Are they real forces? First, are they real forces? It depends on what you mean by real. What is a force? Here is a quick overview of what a force is. I previously talked about real vs. non-real forces. 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. Centripetal Force Centripetal…
One of the worst teaching tools physicists use (and they almost all do it) is to tell students, There's no such thing as centrifugal force. What can you do when the top physics education website says, "It is important to note that the centrifugal force does not actually exist. We feel it, because we are in a non-inertial coordinate system." There's a very funny comic over at xkcd that goes as follows: Well, what's the deal? What really goes on, physically, and what causes a centrifuge to work? Is your physics teacher right, or is there more to the story than "the centrifugal force does not…