Can centripetal force ever do work on an object?

Question

anonymous · Answer

Simply put - NO

Equation
Work = Force x Distance (generally in a straight line)

Explain:
Centripetal force is a force that pulls an object towards a center point, similar to how the earth revolves around the sun. WE GO AROUND IN A CIRCLE
The reason NO WORK IS DONE is because we move in a circle or orbit, and not a line

anonymous · Answer

*** There is movement obviously, but there is no real change in DISTANCE

anonymous · Answer

The answer is cleary no ! But why did you wonder that ?
Perhaps we can rule out your doubt, if you develop your mind.

anonymous · Answer

There is a nice answer to that, a mathematical one. 

Just think about the Force as a vector, to have work you need to change the size of the vector (actually that's one of the definitions of work). So the Centripetal force never change the size of the vector, just the direction, so there is no work!.

anonymous · Answer

Work done is a dot product of force and distance. It is always in the direction of the force. When you are going in a circle and experiencing a force that is inward, your direction is perpendicular to that at every instant. Since $$W= Fd \cos \theta$$, and cos 90 is 0, work done becomes zero.