Let's do another example of a satellite system:[am4show have='p9;p58;' guest_error='Guest error message' user_error='User error message' ]
There's a lot of confusion around the difference between centripetal and centrifugal force. The confusion usually starts with a thought like this: "When I go on a ride, I am getting thrown to the outside (if it's like a fast merry-go-round) or being squashed down in my seat (if it's like a roller coaster loop), but either way I am being pushed away from the center of the circle."
Can you imagine thinking that? Lots of people do! Now let's see if we can punch a few holes in that thought so you can really see how it's not true at all.
First of all, without the inward force pushing on you to keep you in a circle, you would be going off in a straight line and not around the loop of the roller coaster. The track is exerting a force on you, pushing you toward the center of the circle.
Now here's a question for you: just because you feel like you're being thrown, does that mean there has to be a force causing this? Is there any other way to explain that sensation? (Think Newton's Laws!)
Imagine again yourself in a car making a turn. If we had a video camera above the car, you'd see you wanting to continue in a straight line, but the car is now moving into your path and exerting a force on you, pushing you into a circle. That's when you hit the door.
The trick to really seeing this is to get out of yourself and into a different perspective! Einstein made a famous observation that described if you were in a rocket (without windows so you can't view the outside world), you would not be able to tell if the rocket was in space accelerating, or if it were standing still and you were experiencing the same amount of acceleration due to gravity on a planet. Because of F=ma, you can experience these two situations and still feel the same and not be able to tell which is which!
Okay, so are you ready to tackle centrifugal force?
There's a lot of confusion around the difference between centripetal and centrifugal force. The confusion usually starts with a thought like this: "When I go on a ride, I am getting thrown to the outside (if it's like a fast merry-go-round) or being squashed down in my seat (if it's like a roller coaster loop), but either way I am being pushed away from the center of the circle."
Can you imagine thinking that? Lots of people do! Now let's see if we can punch a few holes in that thought so you can really see how it's not true at all.
First of all, without the inward force pushing on you to keep you in a circle, you would be going off in a straight line and not around the loop of the roller coaster. The track is exerting a force on you, pushing you toward the center of the circle.
Now here's a question for you: just because you feel like you're being thrown, does that mean there has to be a force causing this? Is there any other way to explain that sensation? (Think Newton's Laws!)
Imagine again yourself in a car making a turn. If we had a video camera above the car, you'd see you wanting to continue in a straight line, but the car is now moving into your path and exerting a force on you, pushing you into a circle. That's when you hit the door.
The trick to really seeing this is to get out of yourself and into a different perspective! Einstein made a famous observation that described if you were in a rocket (without windows so you can't view the outside world), you would not be able to tell if the rocket was in space accelerating, or if it were standing still and you were experiencing the same amount of acceleration due to gravity on a planet. Because of F=ma, you can experience these two situations and still feel the same and not be able to tell which is which!
Okay, so are you ready to tackle centrifugal force?