What is circular motion (unbalanced forces)?
Circular motion is the movement of an object in a circular path around a center of attraction, much like someone pulling on a ball on a string and spinning around would cause the ball to move in a circular path. The person would be the center of attraction. The force exerted on an object in circular motion by the center of attraction to keep it in its circular path is called the centripetal force, and as the object moves in its “orbit”, when the object is about to escape, the center of attraction exerts force on the object to keep it from flying off, maintaining the circular motion. The centripetal force would operate across the radius of the circle the object is moving in, since the radius is the distance between the object and the center of attraction. If this force was to not be exerted (for example, if the spinning person was to let go of the string), the object would go flying off in a straight line at the exact velocity it was moving in just before it was let go. The overall velo
