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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.
Vectors are defined in cylindrical coordinates by (ρ, φ, z), where . ρ is the length of the vector projected onto the xy-plane,; φ is the angle between the projection of the vector onto the xy-plane (i.e. ρ) and the positive x-axis (0 ≤ φ < 2π),
Since the sum of all forces is the centripetal force, drawing centripetal force into a free body diagram is not necessary and usually not recommended. Using F net = F c {\displaystyle F_{\text{net}}=F_{c}} , we can draw free body diagrams to list all the forces acting on an object and then set it equal to F c {\displaystyle F_{c}} .
Newton's vectorial approach to mechanics describes motion with the help of vector quantities such as force, velocity, acceleration. These quantities characterise the motion of a body idealised as a "mass point" or a " particle " understood as a single point to which a mass is attached.
Upper panel: Ball on a banked circular track moving with constant speed ; Lower panel: Forces on the ball.The resultant or net force on the ball found by vector addition of the normal force exerted by the road and vertical force due to gravity must equal the required force for centripetal acceleration dictated by the need to travel a circular path.
In classical mechanics, Euler's rotation equations are a vectorial quasilinear first-order ordinary differential equation describing the rotation of a rigid body, using a rotating reference frame with angular velocity ω whose axes are fixed to the body. They are named in honour of Leonhard Euler. Their general vector form is
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.
Traditionally the Newton–Euler equations is the grouping together of Euler's two laws of motion for a rigid body into a single equation with 6 components, using column vectors and matrices. These laws relate the motion of the center of gravity of a rigid body with the sum of forces and torques (or synonymously moments ) acting on the rigid body.