Centripetal force allows you to develop a curved movement.
Centripetal force is what needs to be applied to an object or body so that it can overcome inertia and make a movement with a curve . From the Latin fortĭa , force is a term with multiple uses: the concept can refer to the use of power (whether symbolic or physical); the ability to mobilize a thing or a body that generates resistance or has weight; to the action of forcing a person to do something; to the strength to tolerate a push; to the effectiveness of things; to vigor; or to the influence that is capable of modifying the state of a body.
For its part, the centripetal , which comes from the Latin word centripetus , refers to what moves towards the center or what produces attraction towards its location.
Characteristics of a centripetal force
Newton's laws allow us to understand how a centripetal force acts. This force is specified perpendicular to the direction in which the body on which it is exerted moves. The object that moves with a non-uniform speed in a circular path carries a net force that can be decomposed into a tangential component (which alters the speed) and a perpendicular component (which modifies the direction of the movement).
The formula to find the centripetal force is the following: mass x speed squared / radius .
With centripetal force, a rope can be made to rotate in a circle.
The acceleration
Likewise, when talking about this type of force, it is inevitable that we refer to what is known as centripetal acceleration , which is also called normal , which is that which originates from a real force. and that is related to the change in direction of the speed experienced by any particle that is in motion during a curvilinear type path.
However, when determining the aforementioned force, not only must the aforementioned acceleration be taken into account but also other equally relevant and important factors such as the radial vector, the angular velocity, the speed module, the radius of the circular path or the position vector.
Application of centripetal force
Among the fields of our life that make use of this force that concerns us or that are present in them in an almost intrinsic way, we find, for example, the action of placing a satellite into orbit . And that's without forgetting that a clear example of this would be the operation of the merry-go-rounds.
Likewise, at a scientific level it is important to emphasize that although centripetal force is fundamental in various areas that study, analyze and use it, one in which it becomes especially relevant is in the case of relativistic mechanics , which addresses both what is investigation of uniform circular motion as well as rectilinear motion.
Difference with centrifugal force
It is important to understand the difference between centripetal force and centrifugal force . This last force is a force that is classified as fictitious and that a fixed observer establishes as a rotating reference system to describe the movement of an object.
Take the case of a child who ties a stone to a rope and makes it rotate in a circle, maintaining the same angular velocity , until he throws it into the middle of a lake. Said stone will move in a circular path since the rope will apply a centripetal force on it.