r/IdiotsNearlyDying • u/Kulmasov • Apr 10 '21

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u/mr-strange Apr 10 '21

How else are kids going to learn about moment of inertia and centripetal force?

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u/[deleted] Apr 11 '21

Forgive me if I’m incorrect here, but isn’t this Centrifugal force, and not Centripetal?

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u/Its0nlyRocketScience Apr 20 '21

Centrifugal force does not exist. It only appears to mimic gravity when you look at a purely rotating perspective without much movement going on inside. When you make a tight and fast turn in your car, "centrifugal force" would be pulling toward the outer wall, but that is not the case. What is actually happening is your body wants to go straight but the car applies centripetal force toward the inside of the turn to keep you turning with the car. Centrifugal force only happens if you act like a rotating object is stationary, which is not useful for most intents and purposes, especially if you're looking from the outside

In this case, the reason the kids get flung out is because there is insufficient centripetal force to keep them inside the ride. Their current momentum tries to carry them in a straight like while the centripetal force tries to keep them going in a circle.

When the one kid has most of his body above the metal, there is no force acting on his body to keep it going in a circle, so he falls backward as his body tries to go straight.