An investigation of students misconceptions about the centripetal force in uniform circular motion

This study aims at exploring the misconceptions about centripetal force in uniformcircular motion. Discussing with teachers and students, it was expressed that the uniformcircular motion is a difficult subject to understand. Explaining the subject, teachers statedthat they use centrifugal force as a subsidiary to the subject. In order to explore themisconceptions quoted below, a questionnaire was prepared.The centrifugal force is real and its magnitude is equal to the centripetal force,•The direction of centripetal force is radially outwards from the center,•Centripetal force decreases as object?s distance to the center increases.•This questionnaire, which consist of 12 open ended questions, is suitable for highschool and university students. The questionnaire administered to 119 high school 11thgrade students in Manavgat Anadolu, Manavgat Yabancı Dil Ağırlıklı, Manavgat, Ankara50. Yıl Yabancı Dil Ağırlıklı Lise and Ankara 50. Yıl Lisesi and the data were processedby using SPSS statistic software. It was found that the students in the study have had themisconceptions mentioned above.Keywords Uniform Circular Motion, Centripetal Force, Misconceptions