Question:

Does centripetal force result in circular motion? Or does circular motion generate a centripetal force?

Answer:

The wall of the container pushes the ball bearing in the centripetal direction, causing the ball bearing’s to continuously change the direction of its velocity, resulting in circular motion. When the container stops pushing the ball bearing (which happens when the container is lifted), the ball bearing stops changing its direction, resulting in straight line motion in the tangential direction.

It is important to realize that it is the centripetal force which results in the circular motion and not the other way round. As illustrated in this demonstration, once the centripetal force is removed (by lifting the container), the circular motion also ceases.

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