Definition:Inertia (Physics)

This page is about inertia in the context of physics. For other uses, see inertia.

Definition

Inertia is the tendency of a body to maintain the same velocity in the absence of an external force, in accordance with Newton's First Law of Motion.

Equivalently put, inertia is the resistance of a body to a change in its motion.

Inertia is equivalent to mass.

Also see

• Results about inertia in the context of physics can be found here.

Linguistic Note

The word inertia comes from the Latin for laziness or idleness.

Sources

• 1966: Isaac Asimov: Understanding Physics ... (previous) ... (next): $\text {I}$: Motion, Sound and Heat: Chapter $3$: The Laws of Motion: Inertia
• 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): inertia
• 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Newton's laws of motion
• 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): inertia: 1.
• 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Newton's laws of motion