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Because it works for millions doesn't mean it will work for my high-
schoolers. The top of the class would be fine with centripetal. The
students that are not planning on going into a science field, or for that
matter going to college, sometimes need something a bit different than
what might be accepted by millions.
If my students go to Dictionary.com & look up centripetal, the first
definition they see is:
centripetal force: the force, acting upon a body moving along a curved
path, that is directed toward the center of curvature of the path and
constrains the body to the path. (there are additional definitions that
are a bit more accurate).
They read "THE force" to mean the ONE force that is making this happen.
We can all agree this is not true. It would certainly be nice if a single
class discussion would resolve this issue, but it doesn't (ok, it does for
the top tier, but I can just give the top tier the book & they'd be able
to figure it out)..