centrifugal force
nounDefinition of centrifugal force
: the apparent force that is felt by an object moving in a curved path that acts outwardly away from the center of rotation — compare centripetal force
Examples of centrifugal force in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Two new rides on the Mighty Midway: Sea Ray, a giant pirate ship that swings from side to side; and Zero Gravity, with spins and centrifugal force. — Kathy Berdan, Twin Cities, "North End brings a new look, new events center and Angry Birds to Minnesota State Fair," 21 Aug. 2019 Take away this adhesive, and some dangerous centrifugal forces would be unleashed. — John Cassidy, The New Yorker, "Donald Trump and Lax Gun Laws Are Tearing America Apart," 7 Aug. 2019 Iran enrichment processes use gas centrifuges, which create a centrifugal force to move the uranium to a higher enrichment level. — Nicholas Wu, USA TODAY, "What to know about Iran's uranium enrichment program," 17 June 2019 Overton said the spinning was caused by a combination of wind from the helicopter’s propellers, the ground below and the centrifugal force of the helicopter. — Claire Rafford, azcentral, "Woman rescued by chopper off Phoenix mountain; basket carrying her spins out of control," 4 June 2019 Its rotors experience centrifugal forces that deform them against the apex seals lining the combustion chambers, which improves the sealing of those chambers. — Matthew Jancer, Popular Mechanics, "The Rhombus Rotary Engine: Can a Quirky New Design Top the Famous Wankel?," 18 Jan. 2019 When the engine spins fast enough, centrifugal force overwhelms the springs and pushes them into the drum, pulling it and the chain along. — Kevin Dupzyk, Popular Mechanics, "Watch Us Take Apart a Chainsaw Into 297 Pieces," 24 June 2015 Engineering solutions around this problem will be key to successfully implementing technology in space—with one possibility being using centrifugal forces from rotation of a spacecraft to separate the gases from the solution. — Charles W. Dunnill, Scientific American, "Method of Making Oxygen from Water in Zero Gravity Raises Hope for Long-Distance Space Travel," 10 July 2018 The design lets the tires hurl water away via centrifugal force. — Andrew Moseman, Popular Mechanics, "Goodyear Made Spherical MagLev Tires That Are Totally Nuts," 3 Mar. 2016These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'centrifugal force.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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