Lecture

Rotating Reference Frames: Fictitious Forces and Coordinates

Graph Chat

Chat with Graph Search

Ask any question about EPFL courses, lectures, exercises, research, news, etc. or try the example questions below.

DISCLAIMER: The Graph Chatbot is not programmed to provide explicit or categorical answers to your questions. Rather, it transforms your questions into API requests that are distributed across the various IT services officially administered by EPFL. Its purpose is solely to collect and recommend relevant references to content that you can explore to help you answer your questions.

Description

This lecture covers the concept of fictitious forces in rotating reference frames, focusing on centrifugal and Coriolis forces. It explains how to express coordinates and velocities in different frames and simplifications to consider. The lecture also includes exercises on motion in rotating systems.

This video is available exclusively on Mediaspace for a restricted audience. Please log in to MediaSpace to access it if you have the necessary permissions.

Watch on Mediaspace

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Physics

Mechanics: Classical mechanics

Related concepts (32)

Centrifugal force

In Newtonian mechanics, the centrifugal force is an inertial force (also called a "fictitious" or "pseudo" force) that appears to act on all objects when viewed in a rotating frame of reference. It is directed away from an axis which is parallel to the axis of rotation and passing through the coordinate system's origin. If the axis of rotation passes through the coordinate system's origin, the centrifugal force is directed radially outwards from that axis.

Rotating reference frame

A rotating frame of reference is a special case of a non-inertial reference frame that is rotating relative to an inertial reference frame. An everyday example of a rotating reference frame is the surface of the Earth. (This article considers only frames rotating about a fixed axis. For more general rotations, see Euler angles.) Fictitious force All non-inertial reference frames exhibit fictitious forces; rotating reference frames are characterized by three: the centrifugal force, the Coriolis force, and, for non-uniformly rotating reference frames, the Euler force.

Fictitious force

A fictitious force is a force that appears to act on a mass whose motion is described using a non-inertial frame of reference, such as a linearly accelerating or rotating reference frame. It is related to Newton's second law of motion, which treats forces for just one object. Passengers in a vehicle accelerating in the forward direction may perceive they are acted upon by a force moving them into the direction of the backrest of their seats for instance.

Non-inertial reference frame

A non-inertial reference frame is a frame of reference that undergoes acceleration with respect to an inertial frame. An accelerometer at rest in a non-inertial frame will, in general, detect a non-zero acceleration. While the laws of motion are the same in all inertial frames, in non-inertial frames, they vary from frame to frame depending on the acceleration. In classical mechanics it is often possible to explain the motion of bodies in non-inertial reference frames by introducing additional fictitious forces (also called inertial forces, pseudo-forces and d'Alembert forces) to Newton's second law.

Coriolis force

In physics, the Coriolis force is an inertial or fictitious force that acts on objects in motion within a frame of reference that rotates with respect to an inertial frame. In a reference frame with clockwise rotation, the force acts to the left of the motion of the object. In one with anticlockwise (or counterclockwise) rotation, the force acts to the right. Deflection of an object due to the Coriolis force is called the Coriolis effect.

Related lectures (64)

Non-inertial Reference Frames and Constraints

Covers non-inertial reference frames, constraints, and continuous systems, including angular velocity, linear and rotational acceleration, and modeling of merry-go-rounds, ropes, and pulleys.

Mechanics: Inertial and Non-Inertial Frames

Explores mechanics in inertial and non-inertial frames, covering forces, Coriolis effect, and Poisson formula.

Uniform Rectilinear Motion: Carousel

Explores uniform rectilinear motion on a carousel, including coriolis force and inertial forces.

Non-inertial Reference Frames & Constraints

Covers forces in non-inertial reference frames, constraints, and the use of pulleys and ropes.

Frames of Reference: Physics 1