Hi, Pajamas!

Actually, you answered your question about centripetal force when you
mentioned it in your first post: You said that centripetal force is "inward
seeking", which is a reasonable description of attractive forces such as
gravity. The force is toward the centers of the masses involved, which
is what "centripetal" means.

I'm generally easy on "centrifugal force". If you want to call it a fictitious
force, I'm cool with that. If you want to treat it as a real force, I'm cool
with that, too. It works either way.

I guess it's kind of ironic that artificial gravity can be considered as either
centrifugal or centripetal. If you are in a centrifuge, you feel a very real
force between your body and the wall, in which you seem to be pushing
against the wall, away from the center. Of course, that force is also the
wall pushing against your body, toward the center. What is happening is
objectively clear and unambiguous, but it can be described in seemingly
opposite terms depending on how you want to look at it.

-- Jeff, in Minneapolis

__________________
http://www.FreeMars.org/jeff/

"I find astronomy very interesting, but I wouldn't if I thought we
were just going to sit here and look." -- "Van Rijn"

"The other planets? Well, they just happen to be there, but the
point of rockets is to explore them!" -- Kai Yeves