Types of Inertia
There is various examples of Newton’s First Law of Motion or Law of Intertia in everyday life, some of those examples are as follows:
Inertia of Rest
An object at rest tends to remain at rest unless an external force acts on it. Some examples of Inertia of Rest are:
- The rider falls backward when a horse starts suddenly.
- Mangoes fall from mango tree branches when we shake them.
- Passengers on board a bus or train tend to fall back when the vehicle begins rapidly.
- A coin is placed on cardboard, which is then placed over a tumbler such that the coin is above the tumbler’s mouth. The coin now falls into the tumbler if the cardboard is removed with a sharp movement.
Inertia of Motion
An object in motion tends to remain in motion unless an external force acts on it. Some examples of Inertia of Motion are:
- A bowler runs the ball before throwing it, so the speed of the run is added to the ball’s speed at the moment of the throw.
- Passengers on a bus or train lean forward when it comes to an abrupt halt.
- An athlete runs a specific distance before attempting a long jump because the velocity gained while running is added to the athlete’s velocity at the moment of the leap, allowing him to jump further.
- A ball tossed upward by a passenger onboard a moving train will fall according to the train’s speed.
Inertia of Direction
A body can’t change its motion direction on its own. Some examples of Inertia of Direction are:
- The sparks created when a knife is rubbed against a grinding stone move in a tangential direction.
- Mud is spat out by the vehicle’s rotating wheels, but mudguards installed over the wheels prevent the mud from spreading.
Law of Inertia
Law of Inertia is another name for the First Law of Motion given by Sir Isaac Newton. As Law of Inertia has been studied by various scholars, throughout the centuries, and it helped humanity to understand the various concepts of motion in a wide range of fields from aerospace to automobile design.
The origins of the Law of Inertia can be traced back to the ancient Greek philosophers such as Aristotle and Galileo, who first posited the idea of “natural motion.” But until Sir Isaac Newton redefined the Law of Inertia as the “first law of motion” in the 17th century, it was not widely used by science scholars.
Their Law of Inertia is also called Newton’s First Law of Motion. In this article, we will dive deeper into the concept of the Law of Inertia and other related topics in good detail.
Table of Content
- Inertia Definition
- What is Law of Inertia?
- Galileo’s Free Fall Experiment
- Experiment on Inclined Plane
- Types of Inertia
- Law of Inertia Examples
- Limitations of Law of Inertia
- Sample Questions on Law of Inertia