Republic of the Philippines

CEBU TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

DAANBANTAYAN CAMPUS
Agujo, Daanbantayan, Cebu, Philippines
Website: E-mail:
Phone: +6332 437 8526/437 3383 Fax: +6332 437 8523

Name: FLORDELYN CUYOS Date: June 22, 2021

Course & Year : BSIE-1A Rating: ________

Subject: PHYSICS

Space and Time: Inertial Frames

First published Sat Mar 30, 2002; substantive revision Wed Apr 15, 2020

An inertial frame is typically defined as a frame in which Newton's first

law holds true. However, it is unclear why this definition would rule out a
uniformly rotating frame of reference. This is not "inertial" because objects
do not travel in straight lines when they are unaffected. However, we can
assert that every object experiences a centrifugal force,
F=mv2rrF=mv2rrF=mv2rrF=mv2rrF=mv2rrF=mv2rrF=mv2rrF=mv2rr
(where RR is the radial coordinate of a cylindrical coordinate system). The
centrifugal force is referred to as "fictitious" because we know it can only be
generated by selecting a "non-inertial" frame of reference. But how do we
rigorously quantify this?

Perhaps the frame in which Newton's laws are obeyed, or more literally the
laws of inertia. As far as I am aware, there is no precise inertial frame of
reference because any frame we choose could be accelerating with respect to
any arbitrary object in our universe. There is some absolute space that serves
as an inertial frame of reference, and any frame moving at a constant speed in
relation to that space is also inertial. Perhaps we are accustomed to assuming
the earth as the inertial reference frame.

At a given point, all fictitious forces act in a fixed direction on anyone

placed at that point, with a magnitude proportional to the body's mass. We
could argue that if such a force exists in our frame of reference, it is fictitious
and our frame is non-inertial. Gravity, on the other hand, is exactly such a
force. Is gravity a fictitious concept? This is what happens in general
relativity, because a local experiment cannot distinguish between a uniformly
accelerated (non-inertial) frame of reference and a frame containing a
uniform gravitational field (which forces us to label such a frame "non-
inertial" as well in GR, though it is "inertial" in Newtonian physics).
 REACTION TO WORK

A frame of reference is a method of measuring the position of all points in

space at a given time by comparing them to a standard point known as the
origin, which is denoted "zero." This type of measurement system assists us in
calculating changes in various physical entities as well as cause and effect
relationships. The tendency to maintain initial state is referred to as inertia
(state of rest or state of uniform non accelerated motion). If a body is at rest
or in continuous linear motion with a constant velocity, it is said to be in
inertia. An inertial frame of reference is one that is either at rest or moving in
a straight line at a constant velocity.

Physics laws are conserved inertial frames of reference. This also

implies that while the values of entities change in different inertial frames, the
change in values of entities with respect to time never changes across inertial
frames of reference. They are helpful in converting values from one point of
view to another in classical mechanics. Different frames of reference
distinguish different points of view.