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Re: [Phys-l] NYT article: Centrifugal force



I think a full explanation referring to only the real forces present would
be highly confusing to most readers. Just the concept of a body on the
earth's surface accelerating toward a point on the earth's axis would be
very hard to get across. Trying to get average people to see how the real
force vectors add up is very challenging, too.

The one improvement I think would be wise would be to call it a centrifugal
"effect" rather than a centrifugal "force." That would help avoid some of
the confusion over what's "real" and "fictitious" regarding forces.

By the way, there are indeed some real centrifugal forces. If you fling a
mass around in a circle on the end of a string, the force the mass exerts on
the string is centrifugal.

Steve Highland


Well, I hate it. I work very hard to make sure my students know there
is no such thing as a centrifugal force, and that it is related to
Newton's Laws instead.

We want everyone to 'get it right' but don't impose criteria on
ourselves to make sure we don't perpetuate bad/sloppy thinking on such
matters as this. It wouldn't have taken him that much longer to
explain it more rigorously, and would've added tremendously to the
scientific worth and education of the public.

Peter Schoch

On Jul 2, 2009, at 2:53 PM, Rauber, Joel wrote:

Seems basically fine to me.

_________________________

Joel Rauber, Ph.D
Professor and Head of Physics
Department of Physics
South Dakota State University
Brookings, SD 57007
Joel.Rauber@sdstate.edu
605.688.5428


-----Original Message-----
From: phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu [mailto:phys-l-
bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu] On Behalf Of bettyjspace-
1@yahoo.com
Sent: Thursday, July 02, 2009 1:29 PM
To: phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
Subject: [Phys-l] NYT article: Centrifugal force

The following excerpt is taken from Tuesday's NYT, and the quote is
attributed to the associate director of the division of ocean and
climate physics at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia
University. Any thoughts with respect to the use here of the
centrifugal force?

Betty


The Earth¹s Paunch
By C. CLAIBORNE RAY
Q. I know the earth bulges at the equator. Does this include the
oceans?

A. There is an oceanic bulge, said Arnold L. Gordon, associate
director
of the division of ocean and climate physics at the Lamont-Doherty
Earth Observatory of Columbia University.

³As the earth spins, a centrifugal force is directed outward, away
from
the axis of rotation,² Dr. Gordon said. ³This force is strongest
for a
particle at the equator that has a longer path to follow around the
earth¹s axis each day, despite its greater distance from the earth¹s
axis.² Meanwhile, he said, gravity, as induced by the earth¹s mass,
is
also acting on each particle. The forces combine to produce what is
called the observed gravity, which does not point to the earth¹s
center, but is off center.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/science/30qna.html?ref=science
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