Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Centrifugal force is a fictitious force in Newtonian mechanics (also called an "inertial" or "pseudo" force) that appears to act on all objects when viewed in a rotating frame of reference. It appears to be directed radially away from the axis of rotation of the frame.
In a rotating frame, Coriolis and centrifugal forces must be introduced to predict the observed tension. In the rotating reference frame perceived on the surface of the Earth, a centrifugal force reduces the apparent force of gravity by about one part in a thousand, depending on latitude. This reduction is zero at the poles, maximum at the equator.
For Huygens and Newton centrifugal force was the result of a curvilinear motion of a body; hence it was located in nature, in the object of investigation. According to a more recent formulation of classical mechanics, centrifugal force depends on the choice of how phenomena can be conveniently represented.
Centrifugal force is one of several so-called pseudo-forces (also known as inertial forces), so named because, unlike real forces, they do not originate in interactions with other bodies situated in the environment of the particle upon which they act. Instead, centrifugal force originates in the rotation of the frame of reference within which ...
A centrifuge is a device that uses centrifugal force to subject a specimen to a specified constant force - for example, to separate various components of a fluid. This is achieved by spinning the fluid at high speed within a container, thereby separating fluids of different densities (e.g. cream from milk) or liquids from solids. It works by ...
It is the perpendicular force exerted on the contents of the rotor as a result of the rotation, always relative to the gravity of the Earth, which measures the strength of rotors of different types and sizes. For instance, the RCF of 1000 x g means that the centrifugal force is 1000 times stronger than the Earth's gravitational force.
Also, fictitious forces do not drop off with distance (unlike, for example, nuclear forces or electrical forces). For example, the centrifugal force that appears to emanate from the axis of rotation in a rotating frame increases with distance from the axis. All observers agree on the real forces, F; only non-inertial observers need fictitious ...
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. This distinguishes it ...