Northwestern Physics Demos                                 Go back to Mechanics
DCS# 1D55.30NWU# M-30       location:  2 C 4
title: Centrifugal Force
aka: sliding corks or falling off the merry-go-round.

Description:
An Aluminium Disk with corks placed at different distances from the center is spun with a hand rotator starting from rest.  As the speed increases, the corks will slide off.

Questions:
  Where is the centripetal acceleration greatest on a rotating disk?  How can each radius have the same time period, but a different acceleration?
   What does a free body diagram look like for a cork look like just before it begins to slide?
image of disk