Centrifugal describes a force that seems to push things outward when they're spinning or moving in a circle. When you're on a merry-go-round and feel yourself sliding toward the outer edge, that's centrifugal force at work, making you feel like you're being flung away from the center.

Scientists sometimes explain centrifugal force in a special way. What you actually feel is your body trying to move in a straight line while the merry-go-round curves beneath you. Your body wants to keep going forward (that's called inertia), but the spinning platform redirects you into a circle. From your perspective on the merry-go-round, though, it feels exactly like an outward pushing force, and that sensation is what we call centrifugal.

You can see centrifugal force in action everywhere. When you swing a bucket of water in a circle, the water stays inside because it's being pushed outward against the bottom of the bucket. A centrifugal separator in a lab spins test tubes incredibly fast, pushing heavier materials to the outside while lighter ones stay closer to the center. Even Earth's rotation creates a slight centrifugal effect, making you weigh fractionally less at the equator than at the poles.

The opposite of centrifugal is centripetal, which describes the actual force pulling something toward the center to keep it moving in a circle.