Abstract

It is nowadays taught that centrifugal force is a fictitious force that can only be observed from a rotating frame of reference. This teaching is based on the argument that when no inward centripetal force is acting, a particle will proceed in its straight line inertial path. In situations where the physical effects of centrifugal force are detected, this is dismissed as being merely the effects of inertia. Polar coordinates relative to a point origin expose a centrifugal force acting on a particle that is moving in a straight line, but this centrifugal force tends to be masked from view by virtue of the fact that the radial position vector is rotating. This article will examine ways to expose the physical reality of the centrifugal force