[Physics] Cue Ball Moving on a Train Problem

kinematics

Imagine a pool table on a train, and ball on the pool table. The train's forward direction is to the left. Imagine a completely horizontal force applied on the cue ball to the right. The path of the cue ball however, is as shown by the orange line below.
Is train, therefore, moving to the left or the right (As in from the viewpoint of the front of the train looking in the direction of its motion, is it to its left or its right)?

I am almost 100% certain it is to the left, which can be best shown by taking a sheet of paper, putting a pen to it, and moving the paper like the train and the pen backwards like a cue ball (Which confirms my answer). Why does this work specifically, because presumably if not forces act on the ball, it can never vary from the straight line, and the simulation should work?

Consider NO centripetal or centrifugal force acting on the ball, or any other forces for that matter. The ball itself in all reality is only moving in a straight line – however, when compared to the table, the ball's path seems curved due to the motion and changing of the orientation of the table, which will turn in the exact same way as the train.

EDIT: I now know the answer is that it turns right (It was an HSC Question, 2015 Q14 on the Multiple Choice). I understand the issue now, and the problem has to do with context.
When the question was in an HSC paper (Being a year 12 Physics paper), they expected you to take into account inertia, centripetal and centrifugal force into the problem. The thing was, the question was transposed then into my situation – that is a class who just started high school physics, and as such should have no real understanding of any of those forces. For all practical purposes, the answer should be right. I never disputed that. However, in the context of where it was asked, I thought the best interpretation would be if it was on a positionally stationary, but rotating table, not on a train that was moving. This also explains why the pen experiment didn't work – because the pen didn't take into account the fact that forces would act on the ball itself.

Thanks so much for the explanations!

enter image description here
EDIT: Since the ball only has 1-dimensional velocity, draw a vertical line that represents the possible positions of the ball. The table, in this case, will rotate around the ball

Best Answer

If the train is moving in a straight line at an unchanging speed, say 30 kilometers per hour, then everything inside the train is moving with it, all of the physics inside the train will work the same as if the train were not moving. The table, the ball, and you, if you are standing still in the train, are all going the same speed and direction as the train. So if you sit the ball on the table, it will not move. Now if the train accelerates to 40 kilometers per hour straight forwards, then the ball will seem to move straight backwards, as the train has accelerated. This is the same effect you feel pushing you back into a car seat when it accelerates forward quickly. If the train decelerates to 20 kilometers per hour, the ball will seem to roll forwards, just as you would feel a forward pull when slowing a car quickly. If the train turns left, the ball will seem to roll right, if the train turns right, the ball seems to roll left. Just as you feel pushed right or left in a turning car. This is due to the ball's inertia and to Newton's first law of motion. See; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton%27s_laws_of_motion

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