Learn about MIT TechTV and check out our resource page for media makers at MIT.

MIT TechTV is an initiative of MIT Engineering

MIT Physics Demo -- Centrifugal versus Centripetal Motion

You need Adobe Flash Player to watch videos on this site.

A wooden ball is attached to the rim of a spinning wheel. The ball is held in place by a string. When the spring is cut, the ball flies in a straight tangent to the wheel.

In the camera's frame of reference, the ball constantly accelerates around in a circle due to the centripetal force pulling it inwards. When the string is cut, the acceleration stops, and the ball flies away in a straight tangential line. When the string is cut in the rotating frame of reference, a ficticious force (centrifugal force) accelerates the ball.

Comments (2)

Thanks! We used this in homeschool physics. It was a great visual. It would have been a shade better if the person's arm was not in the way on the second view…

Posted 1 year by Anonymous User

blah blah blah

Posted 11 months by Anonymous

You need to log in, in order to post comments. If you don’t have an account yet, sign up now!

Created
August 28, 2008 14:21
Category
Tags
License
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (What is this?)
Formats
Flash Video (flv), mov
Additional Files


Viewed
1988 times

More from MIT Department of Physics Technical Services Group

MIT Physics Demo -- Bicycle Wheel Gyroscope

MIT Physics Demo -- Bicycle Wheel G...

Added 1 year ago | 00:01:29 | 29773 views

MIT Physics Demo -- Telegraph Transmitter

MIT Physics Demo -- Telegraph Trans...

Added 1 year ago | 00:00:37 | 1541 views

MIT Physics Demo -- Driven Mechanical Oscillator

MIT Physics Demo -- Driven Mechanic...

Added 1 year ago | 00:01:08 | 1490 views

Faraday's Cage

Faraday's Cage

Added 8 months ago | 00:01:24 | 2902 views

MIT Physics Demo -- Conducting Glass

MIT Physics Demo -- Conducting Glass

Added 1 year ago | 00:01:12 | 1515 views

Moving Sand Cart Over a Rotating Surface

Moving Sand Cart Over a Rotating Su...

Added 2 months ago | 00:01:14 | 1308 views