As you know, it is common for any physical body to maintain its state of rest or uniform rectilinear motion until it is exerted by any external influence. The centrifugal force is nothing but the manifestation of this universal law of inertia. In our life, it is detected so often that we practically do not notice it and react to it at the subconscious level.
The concept
The centrifugal force is a peculiar effect that a physical point exerts on the forces that constrain the freedom of its movement and force it to move curvilinearly relative to its connecting body. Since the displacement vector of such a body is constantly changing, even if its absolute velocity remains unchanged, the acceleration value will not be zero. Therefore, due to Newton’s second law, which establishes the dependence of the force on the mass and acceleration of the body, a centrifugal force arises. Now remember the third rule of the famous English physicist. According to him, in nature, forces exist in pairs, which means that the centrifugal force must be balanced in some way. In fact, there must be something that keeps the body on its curved path! So it is, coupled with a centrifugal one, a centripetal force also acts on a rotating object. The difference between them is that the first is applied to the body, and the second to its connection with the point around which the rotation takes place.
Where is the action of centrifugal force
It is worth untwisting by hand a small load, which is tied to a twine, as the twine tension begins to be felt immediately. If there were no elastic force, the influence of centrifugal force would lead to the breaking of the rope. Each time we move in a circular path (by bicycle, car, tram, etc.), we are pressed in the opposite direction from the turn. Therefore, on high-speed tracks, in areas with sharp turns, the track has a special slope to give greater stability to competing riders. Consider another curious example. Since our planet rotates around its axis, the centrifugal force acts on any objects that are on its surface. As a result, all things become a little easier. If you take a weight of 1 kg and transfer it from the pole to the equator, then its weight will decrease by 5 grams. With such scanty values, this circumstance seems insignificant. However, with increasing weight, this difference increases. For example, a steam locomotive arriving in Odessa from Arkhangelsk will become 60 kg lighter, and a battleship weighing 20,000 tons, having traveled from the White Sea to the Black Sea, will become 80 tons lighter! Why is this happening?
Because the centrifugal force arising from the rotation of our planet tends to scatter from the surface of the Earth everything that is on it. What determines the magnitude of centrifugal force? Again, recall Newton’s second rule. The first parameter affecting the magnitude of the centrifugal force, of course, is the mass of the rotating body. And the second parameter is the acceleration, which in curved motion depends on the speed of rotation and the radius described by the body. This dependence can be displayed in the form of the formula: a = v
2 / R. It turns out: F = m * v
2 / R. Scientists have calculated that if our Earth rotated 17 times faster, there would be zero gravity at the equator, and if a full revolution took place in just one hour, then weight loss would be felt not only at the equator, but in all seas and countries, who are adjacent to it.