When you whirl a tin can in a horizontal circle overhead, the force that holds the can in the circular path acts in a direction

inward

outward

either inward or outward

parallel to gravity

The correct choice is (A) Inward

Explanation:

A force that acts on a body moving in a circular path and is directed towards the center around which the body is moving is called centripetal force. In the given case when we whirl a tin can in a horizontal circle overhead, the force that holds the can in the circular path acts in a direction inwards because it is the force that holds the tin to keep inside the circular path.

When an object is in circular path then the net force on the object is always towards the center of the path

Now here the position of the tin is overhead above us

So the center of the circular path will lie just below it

So the net force is also in the direction of the center

So here we will have

Net force downwards towards the center

And this is along the direction of gravity

Now the correct answer is

parallel to gravity