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.

Explanation:

Inertia is the property of an object to resist changes in its state of motion. When an object is moving in a circular path, it has a tendency (due to inertia) to move in a straight - line tangent to the circular path. The centripetal force acts towards the center of the circle to keep the object in circular motion. If there was no inertia, the object would not have the tendency to move in the tangent direction. The only force acting on it is the centripetal force. According to Newton's second law \(F = ma\), the object would accelerate in the direction of the net force. Since the centripetal force is towards the center of the circle, the object would move in a line toward the circle's center.

Answer:

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