Have you ever twirled a ball on a rope above your head? Your pulling on the rope is centripetal force, which keeps the ball and rope from flying away.
Centripetal Force is a force that pulls an object that is moving in a circle towards the center, like when moon orbiting the Earth, gravity is the force that pulls moon and keeps it from flying away. It also means center seeking
Centripetal Force is a force that pulls an object that is moving in a circle towards the center, like when moon orbiting the Earth, gravity is the force that pulls moon and keeps it from flying away. It also means center seeking
This is a tennis ball on a board. When the board turns, the ball keeps going straight because there is no centripetal force to stop it. That demonstrates Newton's Law of Inertia - the object keeps doing what it is doing without an unbalanced force to change it.
This is the same ball on the board, with a block added. The block acts as centripetal force, keeping the ball from rolling away, changing its direction as it "seeks the center."
The videos below show some real life examples of centripetal force.
Here is a game to test your understanding: http://www.mooarcade.com/games/play-6819-Axyl_-_Centrifugal_Force.html