INERTIA

Relationship
Concept of between Effects of
inertia mass and inertia
inertia

Newton’s Inertia
First Law balance
2.2.1 Situations Involving the Concept
of Inertia

1. A boxer tried to push a sandbag which was

hanging stationary. He noticed that it was
difficult to get the sandbag to start to move.
2. The boxer than tried to stop the motion of
the swinging sandbag. He noticed that it
was more difficult to stop the sandbag than
to move it.

3. The above phenomena can be explain by the

concept of inertia. The swinging sandbag
continues to maintain its swing. Hence the
boxer feels that it is difficult to stop it.

4. The property of matter that causes it to

resist any change on its motion is known as
inertia.
2.2.2 Concept of Inertia

Newton’s First Law of Motion states that:

(a) An object which is at rest will remain stationary.

(b) An object which is moving with constant

velocity will continue moving, unless acted
upon by external forces.

(c) An object will maintain its state of rest or of

uniform motion provided there are no external
forces acting on it.
 I will remain here
if there are no
external
forces(human,
wind,water)
acting in me.

I will continue
move if there is
nobody
(external force)
to stop me
2.2.3 The Relationship between Mass and Inertia

1. All bodies have mass.

2. The mass of an object is the quantity of matter

contained in the body.

3. The S.I unit of mass is the kilogram.

4. A bigger mass will have a bigger inertia.

A smaller mass will have a smaller inertia.
 Example:

(a) A rock with bigger mass

is more difficult move
compared to a ball with
smaller mass.

Pushing a rock
(b) This is because the
inertia of a body
increases when its mass
increases.

Kicking a ball
Inertia Balance

1. Is a tool used for

determining the mass
and comparing the
masses of two different
bodies by determining the period of oscillation.
2. An inertia balance model can also be used
for studying the relationship between mass and
inertia.

Inference: A bigger mass will be more difficult

to move or to stop
Hypothesis: The inertia increases when its mass
Increases.
 2.2.4 Effects of inertia

(a) A coin is placed on top of card.

(b) Pull the card very quickly horizontally…..
……what can you see??

•When the card is pulled very quickly, the coin does not
follow the card. It falls
into the glass.
•The coin possesses inertia
which causes it to be stationary.
•Gravitational force acts on the
coin and the coin falls to the
bottom of the glass.
 The positive effects of inertia

Example 1:
The figure shows an elephant
chasing a lions.
-We should run in all directions
when we are chased by an elephant.
-The elephant has a big mass
(big inertia) and will tend to move in a straight line because
it is difficult for it to change its direction.
Example 2: To pour out chili sauce
Example 3: To tighten the head of a hammer
Example 4: The rotated of umbrella that stopped abruptly
to shake off the droplets of water.
 The Negative Effects of Inertia
Design of a car

1. When the car is moving at a very high speed,

the car and the passengers will have the inertia
to move to the front.

2. When the driver steps on the brakes suddenly,

the car stops. But the inertia will throw
passengers to the front and hurt them.
Characteristics
(a) The front and back parts
of a car are prone to
crash
(b) The sitting space of the
passenger reinforced
(c) Safety belts
(d) Airbag
Function
This will increase the time interval, t and
reduce the impulsive force, F. The bumper
at the front part of the car will reduce the
impulsive force, F.
To protect the passengers.
Safety belts hold the passengers to their
seats during collision and prevent the
passengers from being thrown to the front
due to inertia. This will prevent the
passengers from hitting the front part of
the car and getting injured.
It will inflate when an accident occurs and
this prevents the driver from hitting the
steering wheel.
Loaded Lorries
1. The tanks which carry liquid in a lorry should be
divided into smaller tanks for safety reasons
(to reduce the effects of inertia)

2. A lorry which carries a big tank cannot stop

easily. This because the inertia of the liquid
in the tank tends to
maintain the state of motion.

Oil tanker lorry

Container Ship
A container ship has such a
large inertia that it takes
over than one hour to
accelerate to its full speed
or slow down to a stop.
Wrestler

A Japanese sumo wrestler

has large inertia to remain
at rest. The greater the mass
is, the larger the inertia will
be.
2.3.1 Concept of Linear Momentum

1. Momentum is defined as the product of mass

and velocity.

Momentum = Mass x Velocity

p = mv

where m = mass, v = velocity

2. Momentum is a vector quantity. The direction
of the momentum follows the direction of the
velocity:
“+” sign – denotes the right direction
“-” sign – denotes the left direction
3. The SI units of momentum is or N s

4. Momentum increases when :

(a) the mass increases
(b) the velocity increases
(c) both of the mass and velocity increases

5. Momentum is a derived physical quantity.

Example:

(a) Momentum of trolley A = 2 kg x (3 m/s)

= 6 kg m/s (Ns)

(b) Momentum of trolley B = 2 kg x (-2 m/s)

= -4 kg m/s (Ns)
 2.3.2 PRINCIPLE OF CONSERVATIO N
OF MOMENTUM

The principle of conservation of momentum states

that the total linear momentum of a closed system
of bodies is constant.

This means that the total momentum before the collision

is equal to the total momentum after the collision,
if no external forces act on the system.
Example:
(a) Before collision After collision

Total momentum From the principle of

Before collision = m u + m u
1 1 2 2 conservation of momentum
= 2(10) + 3(0)
= 20 kgm/s Total momentum before
Total momentum Collision = Total momentum
after collision = mu + mu
1 1 2 2 after collision
= 2v + 3v 20 = 5v
= 5v kgm/s v = 4 m/s
(b)

(c)