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The Law of Inertia4
The Law of Inertia4
A body will preserve its velocity and direction so long as no force in its motion's
direction acts on it.
For example : a package thrown out of an airplane will continue to move at the speed of the
airplane on the horizontal axis (in the direction of the airplane's movement). Since the law of
gravity acts on the package (a vertical downward axis), the package will gather speed along the
vertical axis, but on the horizontal axis its speed will remain equal to that of the airplane.
(In this explanation we have left out the force of air-resistance).
The law of inertia is the basis of the new physics of the seventeenth century. This law is also true
according to modern physics. Galileo discovered the law during the first decade of the
seventeenth century, but in fact he did not understand the law in the general way we have
formulated it here. The general formulation of the law of inertia was devised by Galileo's pupils
and by Descartes - a French philosopher, mathematician and physicist. This law is also the first
of Newton's three laws.
Up to the time of Galileo, it was thought that one must exert force in order to cause and preserve
motion, as claimed by the physics of Aristotle. Indeed, when we look at the world
surrounding us, we see that in order to continue movement we must exert force. Thus, for
example, in order to conserve the speed of a car, the engine must work. Objects on which no
force is exerted to preserve their movement eventually come to a stop. Galileo understood that
one can explain the stopping of bodies by the common experience that we always encounter a
force of friction which resists the motion of bodies. However, without such resistance force, the
bodies would continue to move at their previous speed.
The law of inertia is also important for Galileo's astronomy. He used this law to explain why we
do not feel the earth's motion, and especially why objects falling on the surface of the earth move
together with the earth. This explanation is related to the law of relativity, which is also based
on the constant acceleration of bodies. In this way, Galileo succeeded in refuting the claims of
his opponents, as in the example of the boat in which Galileo proves the law of inertia.
Galileo suggested a number of additional proofs for this law with the help of the inclined
plane. You will find an additional explanation next to the globe in the exhibition room.
First Experiment:
Conclusions:
The object/ball will roll down with increasing speed. It begins at rest, i.e., its speed is equal to
zero, and then gradually gathers speed. The longer the inclined plane, the greater its speed. We
call this increase in speed "acceleration." The opposite situation, in which a body gradually slows
down, is known as "deceleration." Thus, we have seen that a body moving down an inclined
plane accelerates downward.
What will happen to the ball after we give it an upward push?
The speed of a ball rolling up an inclined plane will gradually decrease, while that of a ball
rolling down will gradually increase.
Second Experiment :
Is there a relationship between the plane's steepness and the acceleration of a body moving along
this plane?
Between the angle of the plane's inclination and the change in the body's speed?
Third Experiment:
Is there a difference between a bicycle ride along a moderate incline and a steep incline?
Conclusions:
Fourth Experiment:
What would happen if we were to place a moving frictionless ball on a horizontal plane, - i.e., a
plane inclined neither downward nor upward?
1. Will it increase its speed - accelerate?
2. Will it decrease its speed - decelerate?
3. Will it preserve its present speed?
Conclusions:
would have accelerated. Therefore, when the plane is not inclined at all (i.e., it is a horizontal
plane), the ball will neither accelerate nor decelerate, but will preserve its present velocity.
A body moving on a smooth and frictionless horizontal plane will neither accelerate nor
decelerate, but will continue to move at a constant speed. Such a body will only stop when
another force stops it. This is in fact the law of inertia formulated clearly by Sir Isaac Newton
in 1687, more than eighty years after Galileo began to investigate this law.
Andrea /
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