Centrifugal force

[precisionscott]

I took a look in my sisters physics book (high school), and it was saying that there is no such thing as centrifugal force. I would like to see what you guys thought. Here is an excerpt:

From Physics book:

A ball being swung in a circle has a force acting on it to give it "Centripetal acceleration". It is this force that causes it to go in a circle. The force is acting perpendicular to the ball if it moves in a circle is pointing to the center of the circle. Therefore, centripetal force acts from the ball to the center of the circle, not along the circumference. To make the ball go in a circle, an outside force (person swinging ball on a string) is required. The common misconception is that an object moving in a circle has an outward force, so-called "centrifugal force". "This is incorrect".

As an example, a car going in a circle has centripetal acceleration. There is no centrifugal force pulling on you. What is happening is you tend to move in a straight line, whereas the car is following a curved path. For the passenger in the car to follow the curve also, a force (friction on the seat cushion or the door) is exerted. The car requires an inward force to keep it in the curve. This force is supplied by friction between tires and pavement. If friction is not great enough, you end up in ditch!! A banked curve reduces the amount of friction needed to keep car on curve.

Centripetal describes the direction of the force - towards the center of the circle. (Centripetal is defined as aiming toward the center).
Centrifugal force is a force defined as "center-fleeing". There is no such force according to this book. All forces are acting toward the center not away from the center.

[Martee]

If you do a search on just about any golf forum you will find all types of info on this.

That said here is link,

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hframe.html

Do a bit of surfacing and I think you will find enough info to satify your question.

Whereas the centripetal force is seen as a force which must be applied by an external agent to force an object to move in a curved path, the centrifugal and coriolis forces are "effective forces" which are invoked to explain the behavior of objects from a frame of reference which is rotating.

[6bmike]

Centrifugal force is called a ‘fictitious force’ by physicists as opposed to a ‘true force.’ A True Force would be Gravity or Magnetism which are present in any state or condition. A Fictitious Force (poorly named and misunderstood by some editors of school text books) is one that only exists in certain conditions, but there is nothing fictitious about them.

Centrifugal force is labeled a fictitious force because it only occurs in rotary system - a whirl of a rock on a string, or a clubhead on the end of a shaft are two examples of centrifugal force in a rotary system.

Centrifugal force is the resistance to inertia on an object trying to continue in a straight line while moving in circular motion- to move OUTWARD from the center. How did it travel in this circular motion? A force had to prevent the object from continuing in a outward straight line and pull it INWARD. This force is Centripetal Force. This force seeks to move the object TOWARD the center. Yin and Yang? Yes. They co-exist together or not at all. That complies with Newton’s third law of motion. For every motion or force there is an opposite and equal motion or force.

There has been much posted and argued about what to call this whirl of motion and one can call it whatever they want. You can recognize one of the other or both forces, but the point is that Homer Kelley called his "Centrifugal' force to teach the action of the clubhead impacting the ball without muscular force.

[Bagger Lance]

Good subject that belongs there.

Bagger

[drewitgolf]

You can't see a force, but you certainly can feel it. It is the feel that is important. The golf ball doesn't care what you call it (semantics).