Law of Inertia

by MATT WILLIAMS on MARCH 26, 2011

Image Credit: physicstutorials.org

In the world of physics, there are few people who have been more influential than Sir
Isaac Newton. In addition to his contributions to astronomy, mathematics, and empirical
philosophy, he is also the man who pioneered classical physics with his laws of motion.
Of these, the first, otherwise known as the Law of Inertia, is the most famous and
arguably the most important. In the language of science, this law states that: Every body
remains in a state of constant velocity unless acted upon by an external unbalanced
force. This means that in the absence of a non-zero net force, the center of mass of a
body either remains at rest, or moves at a constant velocity. Put simply, it states that a
body will remain at rest or in motion unless acted upon by an external and unbalanced
force.
Prior to Aristotles theories on inertia, the most generally accepted theory of motion was
based on Aristotelian philosophy. This ancient theory stated that, in the absence of an
external motivating power, all objects on Earth would come to rest and that moving
objects only continue to move so long as long there is a power inducing them to do so.
In a void, no motion would be possible since Aristotles theory claimed that the motion of
objects was dependent on the surrounding medium, that it was responsible for moving
the object forward in some way. By the Renaissance, however, this theory was coming
to be rejected as scientists began to postulate that both air resistance and the weight of
an object would play a role in arresting the motion of that object.

Further advances in astronomy were another nail in this coffin. The Aristotelian division
of motion into mundane and celestial became increasingly problematic in the face of
Copernicus model in the 16th century, who argued that the earth (and everything on it)
was in fact never at rest, but was actually in constant motion around the sun.Galileo, in
his further development of the Copernican model, recognized these problems and
would later go on to conclude that based on this initial premise of inertia, it is impossible
to tell the difference between a moving object and a stationary one without some
outside point of comparison.
Thus, though Newton was not the first to express the concept of inertia, he would later
refine and codify them as the first law of motion in his seminal work
PhilosophiaeNaturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principals of Natural
Philosophy) in 1687, in which he stated that: unless acted upon by a net unbalanced
force, an object will maintain a constant velocity. Interestingly enough, the term interia
was not used in the study. It was in fact JohanneKepler who first used it in his Epitome
AstronomiaeCopernicanae (Epitome of Copernican Astronomy) published from 1618
1621. Nevertheless, the term would later come to be used and Newton recognized as
being the man most directly responsible for its articulation as a theory.