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A centripetal force (from Latin centrum, "center" and petere, "to seek" [1]) is a force that makes a body follow a curved path.The direction of the centripetal force is always orthogonal to the motion of the body and towards the fixed point of the instantaneous center of curvature of the path.
In physics, Hooke's law is an empirical law which states that the force (F) needed to extend or compress a spring by some distance (x) scales linearly with respect to that distance—that is, F s = kx, where k is a constant factor characteristic of the spring (i.e., its stiffness), and x is small compared to the total possible deformation of the spring.
The normal force is actually the sum of the radial and tangential forces. The component of weight force is responsible for the tangential force (when we neglect friction). The centripetal force is due to the change in the direction of velocity. The normal force and weight may also point in the same direction.
This reaction force is sometimes described as a centrifugal inertial reaction, [44] [45] that is, a force that is centrifugally directed, which is a reactive force equal and opposite to the centripetal force that is curving the path of the mass. The concept of the reactive centrifugal force is sometimes used in mechanics and engineering.
The angular momentum equation can be used to relate the moment of the resultant force on a body about an axis (sometimes called torque), and the rate of rotation about that axis. Torque and angular momentum are related according to =, just as F = dp/dt in linear dynamics. In the absence of an external torque, the angular momentum of a body ...
The "reactive centrifugal force" discussed in this article is not the same thing as the centrifugal pseudoforce, which is usually what is meant by the term "centrifugal force". Reactive centrifugal force, being one-half of the reaction pair together with centripetal force, is a concept which applies in any reference frame.
Centripetal force causes the acceleration measured on the rotating surface of the Earth to differ from the acceleration that is measured for a free-falling body: the apparent acceleration in the rotating frame of reference is the total gravity vector minus a small vector toward the north–south axis of the Earth, corresponding to staying ...
The SI unit of force is the newton (symbol N), which is the force required to accelerate a one kilogram mass at a rate of one meter per second squared, or kg·m·s −2.The corresponding CGS unit is the dyne, the force required to accelerate a one gram mass by one centimeter per second squared, or g·cm·s −2. A newton is thus equal to ...