Question

Fictitious force

What is the main cause for fictitious forces?

Can you give 5 examples where you can see fictitious forces?

Answer 1

Fictitious force, also called pseudo force is an apparent force that acts on all masses whose motion is described using a non-inertial frame of reference, such as an rotating reference frame. It is a force which one can experience only because one is in an accelerated frame.

The main cause of fictitious force is that an object's inertia when the reference frame dosent move initially and thus begins to accelerate relative to the free object. The natural frame of reference for the given situation is itself accelerating.

Examples for fictitious force are

1. Force that act on passengers in an accelerating or breaking automobile.

2. Force that pushes objects towards the rim of a centrifuge.

3. Force acting on a person when a lift falls down or moves up.

4.Coriolis force

(it is an inertial force that seems to act on objects that are in motion within the frame of reference that rotates with respect to an initial frame.)

5. Centrifugal force

(a force arising from a body's inertia which appears to act on a body moving in a circular path and is directed away from the centre around which the body is moving)