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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.
This acceleration is known as centripetal acceleration. For a path of radius r , when an angle θ is swept out, the distance traveled on the periphery of the orbit is s = rθ . Therefore, the speed of travel around the orbit is v = r d θ d t = r ω , {\displaystyle v=r{\frac {d\theta }{dt}}=r\omega ,} where the angular rate of rotation is ω .
When considered in an inertial frame (that is to say, one that is not rotating with the Earth), the non-zero acceleration means that force of gravity will not balance with the force from the spring. In order to have a net centripetal force, the magnitude of the restoring force of the spring must be less than the magnitude of force of gravity.
are called the tangential acceleration and the normal or radial acceleration (or centripetal acceleration in circular motion, see also circular motion and centripetal force), respectively. Geometrical analysis of three-dimensional space curves, which explains tangent, (principal) normal and binormal, is described by the Frenet–Serret formulas ...
The centripetal acceleration given by v 2 / r is normal to the arc and inward. When the particle passes the connection of pieces, it experiences a jump-discontinuity in acceleration given by v 2 / r , and it undergoes a jerk that can be modeled by a Dirac delta, scaled to the jump-discontinuity.
Transverse acceleration (perpendicular to velocity) causes a change in direction. If it is constant in magnitude and changing in direction with the velocity, circular motion ensues. Taking two derivatives of the particle's coordinates concerning time gives the centripetal acceleration = =
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 ...
To find the magnitude of F 2 (r) from the original central force F 1 (r), Newton calculated their difference F 2 (r) − F 1 (r) using geometry and the definition of centripetal acceleration.