Inertia (HT only)
- The concept of inertia is closely related to motion, it is defined as:
The tendency of an object to continue in its state of rest, or in uniform motion unless acted upon by an external force
- In other words, inertia is an object's resistance to a change in motion
- If an object is at rest, it will tend to remain at rest
- If an object is moving at a constant velocity (constant speed in a straight line), it will continue to do so
- The image below illustrates the concept of inertia using a coin and a cup of water:
Demonstrating the inertia of a small coin