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Re: [Phys-l] formatting uncertainties




This reminds me of our old discussion on centrifugal force. It is a no-no in HS physics meaning that a student is penalized in the (external) exams if he/she uses it e.g. in solving a problem. Of course, it does not harm students if they are told a bit about centrifugal force/inertial forces in the context of non-inertial frames once they are comfortable with forces in inertial frames. It might harm them if they leave HS with the belief that centrifugal force is evil and should be avoided at any cost :-).


This has been around before and stirs up a honets nest. But essentialy this is correct. Actually they need to be able to analyze in terms of actual physical forces so I always say that centrifugal is just a name meaning inward, and I ask if there is anything pushing inward. If the persist I will tell them that the word is often used for a "pseudo force" (in this age the word virtual might be better), but that from our class point of view there is not such thing. Since many of my students never get to a point where they reliably identify and use forces correctly, there is no hope of talking more about "centrifugal force".

John M. Clement
Houston, TX