a hammar thower spins a hammer in a circle. What happens when the centripetal force drops to 0
a centripetal force cannot drop to 0
the hammer frops straight to the ground
the hammer flies off at a tangent to its circular path
the hamer continues in the circular motion
1 answer
When the centripetal force drops to 0, the object (in this case, the hammer) will no longer be able to maintain its circular motion. According to Newton's first law of motion, an object in motion will continue moving in a straight line at a constant speed unless acted upon by an external force. Therefore, the hammer will fly off at a tangent to its circular path.