According to Charles Falco, the physicist interviewed for this article, "Centrifugal ('center-fleeing') force is something students are taught in their first physics class is an incorrect concept. Yes, it's true that the force is centripetal ('center seeking'). However, the fact that you are thrown off the merry-go-round toward the outside, not toward the center, makes the name counterintuitive, and if I were to say 'centrifugal force' at a physics conference, I guarantee that everyone there would understand exactly what I meant."
Centrifugal Force: A Physicist Responds
Submitted by Mark Nichol, Edutopia.org Web Production Editor (not verified) on September 18, 2007 - 16:46.
According to Charles Falco, the physicist interviewed for this article, "Centrifugal ('center-fleeing') force is something students are taught in their first physics class is an incorrect concept. Yes, it's true that the force is centripetal ('center seeking'). However, the fact that you are thrown off the merry-go-round toward the outside, not toward the center, makes the name counterintuitive, and if I were to say 'centrifugal force' at a physics conference, I guarantee that everyone there would understand exactly what I meant."