Circular Motion

• An object at steady speed in circular orbit is always accelerating as its direction is changing, but it gets no closer to the center. The speed of the ball stays constant.
• Centripetal force is the force acting towards the center of a circle. It is a force that is needed, not caused, by circular motion
• Centrifugal force is the force acting away from the center of a circle. This is what makes a slingshot go outwards as you spin it. The centrifugal force is the reaction to the centripetal force. It has the same magnitude but opposite direction to centripetal force.