soaring into the emptiness of space? Why does a stone oscillated on a string create a flawless arc instead of shooting away directly? These inquiries were posed long before the era of space exploration by brilliant thinkers like Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler. Yet, it was Isaac Newton who provided the mathematical expression for circular motion.
In the 17th century, Newton’s Principia presented the principles of motion and gravitation, laying out a structure to clarify not just the trajectories of celestial bodies, but also the push and pull experienced by rotating objects. With these principles came the ideas of centripetal and centrifugal forces. Since that time, these two concepts have ignited discussions, misunderstandings, and intrigue in equal amounts. They remain fundamental ideas in physics education, yet they also influence our perception of motion in everyday life. So what truly differentiates centrifugal from centripetal forces, and how can we distinguish between them?
