MOving About
Moving About
Inertia:
What is Inertia? Inertia is a property of matter that causes it to resist changes in velocity (speed and/or direction) (Rouse, 2005). Basically Inertia is a word we use when we talk about matter and movement (Unknown Author, Unknown Date). This idea goes all the way back to Sir Isaac Newton, a great physicist. In Newton’s first law of motion it is stated that:
1. An object at rests tends to stay in rest
2. An object in motion tends to stay in motion
A great example of inertia would be if a car is driven directly into a brick wall, the car would stop because of the external force which is exerted upon by the wall. The driver requires a force to stop his body from moving forward, this can be prevented by a seatbelt, or otherwise inertia will cause his body to keep moving forward until his body is acted upon by the same force.
Newton’s First Law:
Newton’s First Law of Motion states that “Every object continues in its state of rest or uniform motion unless made to change by a non-zero net force.” This law says if an object is accelerating, that is it experiencing a change on velocity, and then an unbalanced (or resultant or net) force must be acting upon it (Warren, N, 2004). From this law we can conclude that forces cause changes in motion (that is, accelerations)-they do not cause motion (Warren, N, 2004).
. Newton's First Law, Image Courtesy by: Revision World
Newton’s first law is not apparent in real world situations because there are usually too many external forces acting upon objects on the Earth’s surface. Common experience does not always seem to be in agreement with this law (Warren, N, 2004). A driver of a car on a level road for example, still needs to press the accelerator to move at a constant speed (Warren, N, 2004). Why does the car not accelerate? The reason, of course, is that friction exists between the car and the road (Warren, N, 2004). Hence the forces in this case are balanced and so the law is valid
Inertia:
What is Inertia? Inertia is a property of matter that causes it to resist changes in velocity (speed and/or direction) (Rouse, 2005). Basically Inertia is a word we use when we talk about matter and movement (Unknown Author, Unknown Date). This idea goes all the way back to Sir Isaac Newton, a great physicist. In Newton’s first law of motion it is stated that:
1. An object at rests tends to stay in rest
2. An object in motion tends to stay in motion
A great example of inertia would be if a car is driven directly into a brick wall, the car would stop because of the external force which is exerted upon by the wall. The driver requires a force to stop his body from moving forward, this can be prevented by a seatbelt, or otherwise inertia will cause his body to keep moving forward until his body is acted upon by the same force.
Newton’s First Law:
Newton’s First Law of Motion states that “Every object continues in its state of rest or uniform motion unless made to change by a non-zero net force.” This law says if an object is accelerating, that is it experiencing a change on velocity, and then an unbalanced (or resultant or net) force must be acting upon it (Warren, N, 2004). From this law we can conclude that forces cause changes in motion (that is, accelerations)-they do not cause motion (Warren, N, 2004).
. Newton's First Law, Image Courtesy by: Revision World
Newton’s first law is not apparent in real world situations because there are usually too many external forces acting upon objects on the Earth’s surface. Common experience does not always seem to be in agreement with this law (Warren, N, 2004). A driver of a car on a level road for example, still needs to press the accelerator to move at a constant speed (Warren, N, 2004). Why does the car not accelerate? The reason, of course, is that friction exists between the car and the road (Warren, N, 2004). Hence the forces in this case are balanced and so the law is valid