Centrifugal Force

In Newtonian mechanics, the centrifugal force is an inertial force directed away from the axis of rotation that appears to act on all objects when viewed in a rotating frame of reference.

For example, if a ball is being swung at the end of a rope of length $r,$ then the magnitude of the centrifugal force needed to counter balance the centripetal force is given by

$$F = \frac{mv^2}{r},$$

where

• $m$ is the mass of the ball at the end of the rope;
• $r$ is the length of the rope;
• $v$ is the speed with which the ball is moving.

Centrifugal force is the force that makes objects move outwards when they are spinning around something or traveling in a curve.

For this problem, the gravitational force is given by $mg,$ where

• $m$ is mass of the object;
• $g = 10 \text{ m/s}^2.$