What does Newton's first law predict will happen to a person riding in a car that is moving in circular motion? A. Inertia will cause the person to continue in straight-line motion until a force pushes him or her into circular motion. B. Inertia will cause the person to accelerate in an inward direction toward the center of the car's circular motion. C. Inertia will cause the person to continue in straight-line motion, despite any force that may try to push him or her into circular motion. D. Inertia will cause the person to accelerate radially outward, away from the center of the car's circular motion.
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Explanaan object moving in a circle is experiencing an acceleration. Even if moving around the perimeter of the circle with a constant speed, there is still a change in velocity and subsequently an acceleration. This acceleration is directed towards the center of the circle. And in accord with Newton's second law of motion, an object which experiences an acceleration must also be experiencing a net force. The direction of the net force is in the same direction as the acceleration. So for an object moving in a circle, there must be an inward force acting upon it in order to cause its inward acceleration. This is sometimes referred to as the centripetal force requirement. The word centripetal (not to be confused with the F-word centrifugal) means center seeking. For object's moving in circular motion, there is a net force acting towards the center which causes the object to seek the center.
To understand the importance of a centripetal force, it is important to have a sturdy understanding of the Newton's first law of motion - the law of inertia. The law of inertia states that ...tion: