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Questions tagged [inertia]

Inertia is the tendency of a body to oppose changes to its state of motion. DO NOT USE THIS TAG for moment of inertia or inertia tensor!

1 vote
1 answer
185 views

Calibrating an inertial measurement unit (IMU) to zero/flat surface

I am building a digital spirit level using an inertial measurement unit (IMU), and I want to calibrate the device so that it shows the angle correctly. Does anybody here have experience with this kind ...
eidetech's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
706 views

Using the principle of inertia to motivate the principle of least action?

Can we motivate the principle of least action with the principle of inertia that causes a mass particle to resist changes in its momentum? After all, the principle of inertia is the starting point and ...
Hulkster's user avatar
  • 735
0 votes
1 answer
154 views

Why are the masses hanging from a pulley not considered in its moment of inertia?

My physics textbook showed a diagram of a pulley with mass with 2 blocks hanging from either side by a massless string. They calculated the moment of inertia by finding an approximation of the pulley ...
ElectroCloud's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
236 views

Observational status of Sciama's hypothesis

I have always taken the existence of inertia more or less for granted, as an observational fact that does not require explanation. But on reflection this is an unscientific attitude, and perhaps there ...
Martin C.'s user avatar
  • 1,471
1 vote
0 answers
73 views

What is happening on an atomic level (or lower) when a object is in motion (inertia)?

If you have an iron ball and throw it upwards you are imparting a force which opposes gravity. Initially this force is easily understood by your hand pushing the ball upwards, so the atoms in your ...
Guesser's user avatar
  • 129
0 votes
1 answer
54 views

Propellant less propulsion when there is nothing to push against

Is there a way for a vehicle to move without losing mass when there is nothing for the vehicle to push against? For example, a helicopter flying around in a vacuum.
suyashsingh234's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
449 views

Inductance - a better analogy than the fact that it is similar to inertia

This question is to get a feel and good definition for what inductance actually is. I have read about the analogy where inductance can be compared to inertia-that the flux through an inductor resists ...
MockingYak978's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
801 views

How are objects kept free falling in the LISA experiment?

I'm watching a video about the LISA experiment, which will be used to detect gravitational waves. In there, three space stations will be launched and will follow the Earth in its revolution around the ...
robertspierre's user avatar
4 votes
4 answers
398 views

How do I convince my students the Newton's first Law is the way it is?

Every time I teach this law, there are always a few students asking me why a net force is zero on a system moving at a constant velocity. This group of students takes physics for the 1st time. It is ...
TBS500's user avatar
  • 59
1 vote
1 answer
72 views

How density of fluids is would affect inertia?

I was watching that movie Event Horizon and they use water as an instrument to protect passengers of a space vessel from 30G acceleration, so my question is about a similar scenario, what would happen ...
dfpr's user avatar
  • 11
-1 votes
5 answers
134 views

Newton: an object in motion remains in motion: was there anyone else who believed this? [closed]

From my own experience as a schoolkid, that was the law that I was not buying. I could see his understanding of the Lunar orbit making him think this but otherwise, what in human experience would lead ...
releseabe's user avatar
  • 2,238
2 votes
0 answers
34 views

Equivalence of Inertia and Gravity [duplicate]

I'm now wondering...does - energy=mass=inertia=gravity? Are they all, intrinsically, the same, "thing"; that is, the same, "entity".
Dale Alan Bryant's user avatar
14 votes
4 answers
2k views

How does classical, Newtonian inertia emerge from quantum mechanics?

From my understanding, inertia is typically taken as an axiom rather than something that can be explained by some deeper phenomenon. However, it's also my understanding that quantum mechanics must ...
Max's user avatar
  • 545
1 vote
0 answers
28 views

How to mathematically express and then optimize my photon emitter? [closed]

A laser shoots photons directly at a flat disk with a fixed linear rate f(t) on the interval [t0=a,tn=b] with a horizontal path. E.x. f(t)=100 photons per second The laser is controlled by robotic ...
nsc9's user avatar
  • 11
3 votes
6 answers
1k views

Mass definition

One definition of mass is 'a measure of the quantity of matter in an object at rest relative to the observer'. What do 'at rest' and 'relative to the observer' mean here? I know it has to do with mass ...
Salma Abdelaziz Abdeldayem's user avatar

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