why water thrown off clothes during the spin cycle of a washing machine

Question

anonymous · Answer

Newton's first law of motion - A body in motion tends to continue in the same motion unless acted upon by an external force. In this case the spinning water wants to continue in a straight line instead of the circle being traced by the spinning basket of the washing machine, and finds escape via the perforations in the basket. The clothes, on the other hand, are held in by the body of the basket. The inward force exerted on the clothes by the basket is called "centripetal force" and the opposite and equal outward force exerted on the basket by the clothes is called "centrifugal force." "centrifugal" comes from the Latin for "running away from the center."

farmdawgnation · Answer

In the future, this would be a better fit for the Physics group.