Physics › Section D · Circular motion and gravitation › Topic D.3
Fictitious forces and non-inertial frames
Pressed back into your seat as a plane takes off, or flung sideways as a car turns, you feel forces that nothing is actually exerting. Understanding where these fictitious forces come from settles the centrifugal-force argument for good and explains why hurricanes spin.
In this topic
- Forces that seem real
- Inertial and non-inertial frames
- What a fictitious force is
- Worked example: a hanging strap in a bus
- Centrifugal force
- Worked example: two views of one ride
- Artificial gravity
- The Coriolis force
- Earth as a rotating frame
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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