Some subscribers to Phys-L might be interested in a post "Treatment
of 'Pseudoforces' in Introductory Physics Courses" [Hake (2011)].
The abstract reads:
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PhysLrnR's Hugh Haskell correctly addressed the common misconception
raised by Jennifer McElrath that the centripetal force is "a force in
and of itself." As of today, Hugh's post had initiated a 35-post
PhysLrnR thread with the illiterate subject heading "Re: Centrifuagal
(sic!) force (Was: Computer simulations: how & when are they
effective? Research articles?)" on the PhysLrnR archives at
<http://bit.ly/nG318r>. That thread consisting primarily of diverse
opinions on the "Treatment of 'Pseudoforces' in Introductory Physics
Courses."
For a Socratic Dialogue Inducing (SDI) Lab [Hake (1987, 1992)] that
deals with, among other things, the motion of an object moving in a
vertical circle (McElrath's concern), see SDI Lab #3 "Circular Motion
and Frictional Forces," online as a 278 kB pdf at
<http://bit.ly/pTnAvs>. The contentious and perplexing words
"centripetal" and "centrifugal" appear nowhere in SDI Lab #3.
For an SDI Lab treatment of the notorious "pinning force" experienced
by kids sitting in an accelerating truck or by passengers seated in
an airplane accelerating for takeoff, see "Towards Paradigm Peace in
Physics Education Research" [Hake (2000)] at <http://bit.ly/pekfjz>.
On pp. 10-11 is a transcript of a Socratic exchange "Pinning a Kid To
Her Seat" based on Section XI. "Motion of a kid in a truck-
revisited" of SDI Lab #2, online as a 233 kB pdf at
<http://bit.ly/mSCxV4>.
BTW - thanks to Alfredo Louro for reminding us of the classic 1960
PSSC film "Frames of Reference" <http://bit.ly/nAtwOv>, and to Ben
Dreyfus (2011) for calling attention to the centrifugal force cartoon
at <http://xkcd.com/123/>: 007 agent Bond, being crushed against the
inside of a rapidly rotating Ferris wheel, nevertheless insists that
there's no such thing as "centrifugal force"!
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REFERENCES [All URL's shortened by <http://bit.ly/> and accessed on
09 Oct 2011.]
Hake, R.R. 2011. "Treatment of 'Pseudoforces' in Introductory Physics
Courses" online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at
<http://bit.ly/qQ7nV1>.The abstract and link to the complete post are
being transmitted to various discussion lists and are also on my blog
"Hake'sEdStuff" at <http://bit.ly/opAzIw> with a provision for
comments.