Question

Without inertia, how would an object that is experiencing a centripetal force behave?

It would move in a line away from the circle’s center.
It would move in a line toward the circle’s center.
It would move in a curved, circular path.
It would move in a line tangent to the circular path

Answer 1

It would move in a line toward the circle’s center.

Reason: with no inertia the object has no tendency to continue tangential motion, so it simply follows the net force. A centripetal force points inward, so the object would accelerate directly along a straight line toward the center. (By contrast, with inertia but no centripetal force the object moves tangent; with both present it can follow a curved/circular path.)