SMK TAT BENG

PHYSICS
FORM 4

2.3 Inertia
 Situations Involving the Concept of Inertia
 A boxer tried to push a sandbag which was hanging
stationary as shown in Figure above. He noticed that it
was difficult to get the sandbag to start to move.

 The boxer then tried to stop the motion of the swinging

sandbag. He noticed that it was more difficult to stop the
sandbag than to move it.
 Situations Involving the Concept of Inertia
 The above phenomena can be explained by the concept
of inertia. The swinging sandbag continues to maintain
its swing. Hence the boxer feels that it is difficult to stop
it.
 The property of matter that causes it to resist
(menentang) any change in its motion is known as
inertia.
 A force is required to overcome the inertia of an object or
body.
 The study of the motion of a body which is caused by
force is called dynamics.
 Situations Involving the Concept of Inertia
 Figure (a & b) shows Jerak standing in a bus. When the
bus starts moving forward suddenly, Jerak falls
backward. When the bus slows down suddenly, Jerak
falls forward.

(a)The bus starts moving suddenly.

Jerak falls backward

(b) The bus slows down suddenly.

Jerak falls forward.

 The inertia of an object is the tendency of the object to

remain at rest or, if moving, to continue its uniform
motion in a straight line.
 Situations Involving the Concept of Inertia
 In Figure (a), when the bus moves forward suddenly,
Jerak's feet are caused to move forward. The inertia of
his body tends to remain at rest. Hence, Jerak falls
backward.
 In Figure (b), when the bus slows down suddenly,
Jerak's feet are brought to rest. The inertia of his body
tends to continue moving forward. Hence, Jerak falls
forward.
 Concept of Inertia Newton's
First Law of Motion
 The concept of inertia is related to Newton's first law of
motion
 Newton's first law of motion states that……
(a) an object which is at rest will remain stationary (tidak
bergerak)
(b) an object which is moving with constant (tetap)
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.
The Relationship between Mass and Inertia
 All bodies have mass.
 The mass of an object is the quantity of matter contained
in the body.
 The SI unit of mass is the kilogram.
 A bigger mass will have a bigger inertia. A smaller mass
will have a smaller inertia.
The Relationship between Mass and Inertia

Pushing the rock Kicking the ball

 A rock with a bigger mass is more difficult to move

compared to a ball with a smaller mass.
 This is because the inertia of a body increases when its
mass increases.
 The Relationship between Mass and Inertia

 Two tins are set up as shown in Figure above

 They are then swung together.
 The tins are then stopped.
 It is observed that the empty tin is easier to stop compared
to the tin filled with sand.
 The tin filled with sand requires more effort to make it
swing and when it is swinging, it is more difficult to make it
stop. This is because the tin filled with sand has a bigger
mass and therefore a bigger inertia.
 Inertia Balance
 An inertia balance is a tool used for determining the
mass and comparing the masses of two different bodies
by determining the period of oscillation.
 An inertia balance model as shown in Figure below can
also be used for studying the relationship between mass
and inertia.
Example of Inertia

A 50 sen coin is placed on a cardboard

covering the top of a glass.
When the cardboard is given a quick pull
horizontally, the coin will fall into the glass.
The inertia of the coin resists (menentang)
the force that tries to change its state of rest.

When a book placed at the lower position

of a stack of books is pulled out horizontally
in a quick jerk, the inertia of the books above
it tends to keep them at rest instead of being
moved horizontally together with the book
that is being pulled.
Example of Inertia

When very little tomato sauce is left in

the bottle, the bottle is given a quick
downward move and stopped suddenly to
force the sauce out of the bottle.
When the bottle moves, the sauce in it
moves together.
When the bottle is stopped suddenly,
the inertia of the sauce tends to keep it
moving downward and out of the bottle.
 The Positive Effects of Inertia

Figure above shows an elephant chasing a child.

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.
 The Positive Effects of Inertia

The chilli sauce flows out more easily if the bottle is shaken
vigorously and the shaking is stopped suddenly as shown in
Figure above
The chilli sauce inside the bottle moves together with the bottle.
When the bottle stops suddenly. the chilli sauce flows out because
the chilli sauce in the bottle tries to maintain its original state of motion.
 The Positive Effects of Inertia

The loose head of a hammer can be tightened by hitting the

wooden handle of the hammer onto the floor
 The Positive Effects of Inertia

The umbrella is rotated and stopped abruptly to shake off the droplets
of water as shown in Figure above.
The inertia of the droplets of water causes them to keep
on moving even the umbrella has stopped rotating.
 The Negative Effects of Inertia
Design of a Car
 When a car is moving at a very high speed, the car and the
passengers will have the inertia to move to the front.
 When the driver steps on the brakes suddenly, the car stops.
But the inertia will throw passengers to the front and hurt
them.

Safety features in a car

Characteristic Function

The front and back parts of This will increase the time
a car are prone to crash interval, t, and reduce the
impulsive force, F.
The dumper at the front part
of the car will reduce the impulse
 The Negative Effects of Inertia
Characteristic Function

The sitting space of the

To protect the s passengers.
passenger is reinforced.
Safety belts hold the passengers
Safety belts.
to their seats during collision &
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.
Air bag It will inflate when an accident
occurs and this prevents the
driver from hitting the steering
wheel.
 The Negative Effects of Inertia

 The tanks which carry liquid in a lorry should be divided into

smaller tanks for safety reasons (to reduce the effects of
inertia).
 A lorry which carries a big tank cannot stop easily. This is
because the inertia of t liquid in the tank tends to maintain the
state motion.
 The same theory applies to a lorry which carries a heavy
load. The load must be tied so that it will not fall off the lorry
when the lorry moves or stops.
 The part between the driver's seat and the load should have
strong steel structures. The steel structures will prevent the
load from being thrown to the front and hitting the driver.
 The Negative Effects of Inertia

An aeroplane
An aeroplane has a very big mass. It cannot be stopped easily
when it lands at airports due to its big inertia. Therefore, a very
long runway is required for the aeroplane to stop safely.

Container ship
Due to its very big mass, a ship has a very big inertia. It cannot
be stopped quickly even during emergency. A very strict
navigation system is needed to guide a ship when reaching a
port, sailing near rocks and icebergs as well as in busy sea route
like the Straits of Malacca to prevent accidents from happening.