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What are the differences between centripetal and centrifugal forces?
Centripetal: Center-seeking, real force causing circular motion | Centrifugal: Center-fleeing, apparent force felt in a rotating frame.
Compare speed and velocity in uniform circular motion.
Speed: Constant magnitude | Velocity: Changing direction, therefore not constant.
What is a vector field?
A vector field assigns a vector to each point in space, showing the direction and strength of a force at different points.
What is uniform circular motion (UCM)?
Motion of an object moving in a circle at a constant speed, but with changing velocity due to direction change.
What is centripetal force?
The net force that points towards the center of the circle, causing the circular motion. It is not a new, separate force.
What is centripetal acceleration?
The acceleration that points towards the center of the circle, responsible for changing the direction of the object's velocity.
What is centrifugal force?
An apparent, center-fleeing force felt in a rotating frame, but not a real force.
What is the effect of a net force pointing towards the center of a circle?
It causes the object to move in uniform circular motion.
What happens to the velocity of an object in UCM?
The direction changes continuously, resulting in acceleration, even if the speed is constant.
What happens when a string breaks while twirling an object in UCM?
The object will move in a straight line tangent to the circle at the point where the string broke.
What is the effect of gravitational force between two objects?
Each object exerts a force on the other, pulling them towards each other's center of mass.
What causes centripetal acceleration?
A change in direction of the velocity vector.