Question

Distinguish between inertia of motion and inertia of direction.

Answer 1

At first understand what is meant by inertia. Know the difference between being in motion and being in a particular direction. Describe the meaning of inertia of motion and inertia of direction. Explain both terms giving suitable examples from our day to day life.

Complete answer:
First let us know what inertia means. Inertia is the property of a physical object to remain in a state of rest or in motion or in other words inertia is a project of an object to remain in the same state unless it is acted upon by any external force.

Inertia of motion means to stay in the state of motion or in rest unless an external force acts upon the body. That is, if a body is moving it will tend to be in motion or if it is at rest it will tend to be at rest unless a force is used to restrict its motion. For example, while we travelling in a bus which is moving with some velocity and suddenly the bus stops at a bus stand at moment we experience a push in forward direction this is because of moment of inertia, as we were moving in motion when the bus stop our body tend to be in same motion which is why it tends to go forward.

Inertia of direction means to keep moving in a particular direction unless it is acted upon by any external force. For example, you are riding a bicycle and moving in the straight road and suddenly you take a sharp turn, at that moment your body tends to move at the other side this is because of inertia of direction, as the body tends to move straight.

Note: Inertia was explained by Newton in his first law of motion which states a body tends to be in motion or in rest unless an external force acts upon it. There are two more laws given by Newton; the second law of Newton states that force on a body can be expressed as the product of its mass and acceleration and the third law of Newton states that to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.