| Inertia |
| Copy Right By G.k.Glatz |
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| I believe that millions of people who have had a high school education, or higher still fail to understand the theories of some of the great thinkers of the past. Some of which have brought about the great age we live in today. No theory is a truth until it is proven, but some which have worked to produce tangible results are considered by the public as true. As such they can not see a principle that is not new, but has been interpreted in the wrong way. An example of this is Inertia, a word used by Newton in his theories. To represent what? Is it a force, or energy?
The definition for Inertia is: The tendency of a body to remain at rest unless acted upon by a external force, or for the body to remain in motion unless acted open by an external force. The first part of this definition contradicts the second. Since in the first part it is obvious that inertia is a resistance to movement, or I should say acceleration above or below its rest velocity. The earth is revolving on its axes at approximately 1000 mph, and carrying everything along with it, nothing on earth is really at rest. When two bodies are moving at the same speed they are motionless relative to one another. An example is buildings, trees, and other things attached to the earth, or things not attached to the earth such as animals, and man. They are all traveling with the spin of the earth, but to each other they are motionless. For a moveable body to change it's location it must increase, or decrease this velocity depending on the direction it wishes to move, and over come what holds it in place. A body on earth has a resistance (Inertia) to changes in acceleration depending on it's amount of mass, the pull of gravity, and the friction of it's surroundings. There for an external force must be applied to over come this resistance and allow movement to a new location. The second part implies that inertia is a force. Tending to keep it moving until a force is applied to stop it. So once a mass is set in motion it should continue moving until it encounters some obstacle in its path. We know this to be false because there is always resistance to movement here on earth caused by gravity, and friction with the surrounding environment. Which will cause a moving body to slow and stop the minute the moving force is removed. Energy and force are not the same thing, in the first example the force does impart energy to the mass, but in the second the force removes the energy from the mass. On earth a bodies resistance is depend on it’s size, mass, shape, surface it is resting on, and the atmosphere around it, when moving on the surface or the atmosphere in flight. This so called Inertia is caused by three factors Gravity, Friction and Mass Resistance. The mass of the object determines the amount gravity pulls it towards the center of the earth which gives it a measurable weight. It’s friction is dependent upon its shape and the texture of the surface it rests on. The smaller and lighter an object the less the resistance, and a round object will make less contact with a surface then a flat square object. The round one will move easier by rolling and have less resistance to the flow of air around it. Another the surface it’s self, if it is smooth it has less resistance to an objects movement then if it were rough. The third factor Mass Resistance which is caused by the fact that all mass has substance, and even though an object may be removed from the effects of the other two it will still require force to move it. There for Inertia (on earth ) is a resistance equal to the sum of the mass resistance and the victor between the inward pull of gravity, and frictional drag in an opposite direction to the applied force. Some objects on a level plane, will continue to move for a time after the initial force has been applied. Such as a ball rolling, or a sled sliding on ice, but they will eventually come to a stop because of inertia, (resistance from these three factors), unless further force is applied to continue the motion. Newton lived in a past era when man had not yet stepped forth in to space, how could he have known how a body would react out side of the influence of earths gravity. Yet his laws does apply in space removed from the influence of gravity, and environmental friction. Here a body accelerated to any given velocity will continue to move with out any further force applied, until it encounters an opposing force. Here there is only the lesser resistance of the quantity of mass to be moved, and we must still exert force to move it. The mass may weight 800 lbs on earth, but now that no longer applies, and a man who could only lift 100 to 150 lbs can now move it quite easily. The pull of gravity is equal to the square of the distance between two objects and the difference in proportion of there mass. So resistance to movement afforded by gravity and friction is stronger then the mass resistance, but you still have Inertia from this mass resistance, and you must use force to accelerate or decelerate an object. There for if you accelerate an object at a 1G rate, the effects will be the same whether on earth or in space, except it will take less force to do so in space. There for the definition for Inertia that would apply both to on earth and in space should be: The resistance to changes in velocity, since everything on earth is moving at a constant velocity. So Newton's definition should be: The tendency of a body to remain at rest (velocity) unless acted upon by an external force, or for the body to return to rest (velocity) unless acted open by an external force. Except in space where Inertia has no effect on a body except during acceleration, and a body moving at a constant speed will continue at its velocity unless acted upon by an external force. Copyright by Gordon K. Glatz |
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| In My Opinion |