Centriptal Force Is Pulling On A Car

Centripetal Force
Imagine, if you will, driving on a curvy road on your way to the city. As you drive you feel the tires of your car grip the road as you round the curves. As you approach the next curve you feel the car lean inwards. What magical force is pulling on your car? This is what is known as centripetal force. Without this force you would only be able to move in a straight line (Science Buddies Staff., 2017). Centripetal force is a force on an object along a curved path or in circular motion (Ewen, 2017, pg. 704). I will discuss different applications and examples of centripetal force.
Centripetal force is the mere concept that an object following along a circular path will maintain its speed (Centrifugal Force vs..., 2017). This

For instance, a bucket of water being spun around in circles and the water not spilling out. The force of the water being applied to the inside of the bucket when it is spun around, prevents the water from spilling out. The force being applied is directed inwards towards the middle of circle that the object is spinning around. This is what keeps a roller coaster from falling off the tracks in midair on a loop. Another example, is if you were to sit on a merry-go-round and someone began to push it around in circles you would most likely feel as though you are trying to fly off it. If you are holding on to the merry-go-round the centripetal force is being applied, when you let go this force is gone. The Earth itself produces centripetal force in the form of a gravitational field, if that force is there centripetal force will be applied upon everything on its

However, these two are very different although they are related. Centrifugal force is practically the lack of centripetal force. While centripetal force is the force being applied from the object to the center, centrifugal is force being applied from the center to the object. For example, centrifugal force is mud or water being flung off a rotating tire. A ball attached to a string being spun around is centripetal force until the string breaks or is let go. As with the example above with the merry-go-round, as soon as you let go of the merry-go-round it becomes a centrifugal force. A centrifuge uses centrifugal and centripetal forces to separate particles from blood or other bodily fluids by use of high rotational speeds (Centrifugal Force