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centripetal force

force that makes a moving body follow a curved path

AI overview

Centripetal force is the push or pull that keeps a moving object on a curved path instead of letting it travel in a straight line. It matters because it explains how objects stay in circular motion, from planets orbiting the sun to cars turning around a corner.

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Commons category: Centripetal force
Stack Exchange tag: physics.stackexchange.com/tags/centripetal-force

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Article

A particle is disturbed from its uniform linear motion by a series of short kicks (1, 2, ...), giving its trajectory a nearly circular shape. The force is referred to as a centripetal force in the limit of a continuously acting force directed towards the center of curvature of the path.

Centripetal force (from Latin centrum 'center' and petere 'to seek') is the 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. Isaac Newton coined the term, describing it as "a force by which bodies are drawn or impelled, or in any way tend, towards a point as to a centre". In Newtonian mechanics, gravity provides the centripetal force causing astronomical orbits.