- #1
FaroukYasser
- 62
- 3
Hi,
I am kind of confused about how a centrifugal force works. Every where i search there seems to be 2 opinions, that centrifugal force is indeed a force and others that argue that it is not.
What I want to understand is in (for example) a centrifuge, which rotates very quickly with a test tube to separate particles in a mixture (for example sand and water) and the sand move to the bottom of the test tube. my question is what moves them? There seems no force that actually "pushes" these sand particles to the bottom (except centrifugal force).
Also, I think that from what I understand, the centripetal force provided in this example is by the friction force between the sand particles and the water particles. Am I missing any force here?
Sorry for the long post :)
I am kind of confused about how a centrifugal force works. Every where i search there seems to be 2 opinions, that centrifugal force is indeed a force and others that argue that it is not.
What I want to understand is in (for example) a centrifuge, which rotates very quickly with a test tube to separate particles in a mixture (for example sand and water) and the sand move to the bottom of the test tube. my question is what moves them? There seems no force that actually "pushes" these sand particles to the bottom (except centrifugal force).
Also, I think that from what I understand, the centripetal force provided in this example is by the friction force between the sand particles and the water particles. Am I missing any force here?
Sorry for the long post :)