Inertia Examples in Real Life (With Explanation)

Inertia is the natural tendency of an object to resist changes in the state of motion.

In inertia, an object tends to remain at rest or in uniform motion (with the same speed and in the same direction) unless something slows it down or changes its direction.

Here are some examples of inertia in real life:

#1 Inertia is seen while applying sudden brakes to a moving bike

#2 Inertia is seen while sitting inside the car wearing a seatbelt

#3 Inertia is seen while allowing a rubber ball to roll on the slant surface

#4 Inertia is seen while dusting an old book with the hand

#5 Inertia is seen while swirling milk in the large container

#6 Inertia is seen while taking a sharp turn with the car

#7 Inertia is seen while shaking a wet branch of the tree

#8 Inertia is seen while quickly pulling a napkin underneath the dish

#9 Inertia is seen while swirling water in the container

#10 Inertia is seen while skating on the ice

#11 Inertia is seen while handling a hovercraft in the sea

#12 Inertia is seen while heavy wind hits a branch of the tree

#13 Inertia is seen while pedaling a bicycle on the slant surface

#14 Inertia is seen while quickly hitting an index card placed on the top of a water glass

Let’s one by one discuss the above examples in detail.

Contents

#1 Inertia is seen while applying sudden brakes to a moving bike

When a moving bike applies a sudden brake, a person sitting on it will slightly hit forward. This thing shows the presence of inertia. Because in inertia, a moving body will keep on moving unless some external force stops it. Therefore, it is necessary to hold something when you are sitting on a moving bike.

#2 Inertia is seen while sitting inside the car wearing a seatbelt

Suppose that you are sitting in a moving car, wearing a seatbelt. You’ve noticed that if you apply brakes to a car, then a seatbelt will get tightened. This thing happens due to inertia.

Because of inertia, even after the brakes are applied, your upper body will remain in motion. The thing that stops your body from getting thrown away from the car’s seat is an external force exerted by a seatbelt on your body.

#3 Inertia is seen while allowing a rubber ball to roll on the slant surface

When a rubber ball placed on the slant surface starts to roll, it will not stop on its own unless friction (external force) stops it. If there is no friction, then the ball will continue to move forward. This thing shows that the rubber ball has inertia.

#4 Inertia is seen while dusting an old book with the hand

If you dust an old book with your hand, then you’ll see the dust particles coming out from that book in the air. Because of inertia, the dust particles in the book are initially in a rest position, and they will continue to remain in a rest position unless an external force of hand acts on a book.

#5 Inertia is seen while swirling milk in the large container

Milk stirred in the large container will not stop immediately, but it continues to swirl for some time. Because of inertia, even after the stirring stops, milk continues to swirl.

#6 Inertia is seen while taking a sharp turn with the car

When a car driver takes a sharp turn along a curved road, he experiences inertia. When a car turns, inertia keeps a car driver’s body in motion, and because of that, he feels like he is getting thrown away in the direction opposite to that of a car’s turn.

#7 Inertia is seen while shaking a wet branch of the tree

If you shake a wet branch of a tree with your hand, then you’ll see the water droplets falling on the ground. This thing shows that there is an inertia in the water droplets. Initially, the water droplets on a tree branch are at rest position, and they will remain at rest position. When an external force of hand acts on them, they will fall on the ground.

#8 Inertia is seen while quickly pulling a napkin underneath the dish

If you quickly pull a napkin placed underneath a dish with your hand, then the napkin will come out effortlessly. Initially, the plate was in the rest position. And because of inertia, it will continue to remain in the rest position, even after you pull a napkin placed underneath it.

#9 Inertia is seen while swirling water in the container

Have you ever wondered why water continues to swirl when poured into a large container? This continuous swirling occurs due to inertia. Because of inertia, water continues to swirl, even after the flow of water stops from the main pipe.

#10 Inertia is seen while skating on the ice

When a person skates on the ice, he continues to slide up to some distance for a while. This thing happens because of inertia. Because of inertia, he will continue to slide on the ice unless friction (external force) slows him down.

#11 Inertia is seen while handling a hovercraft in the sea

It is difficult to stop or turn a hovercraft in the sea. When a hovercraft stops, like cars, it does not get stopped easily by friction. Because of inertia, hovercraft will continue to move in the same direction (as before) for a while without stopping.

#12 Inertia is seen while heavy wind hits a branch of the tree

You have seen that when the wind blows, a branch of the tree flows in the air. Due to inertia, a tree branch remains at rest position (as before). When the wind (external force) hits on it, it will flow in the air.

#13 Inertia is seen while pedaling a bicycle on the slant surface

Suppose that you’re riding a bicycle on the slant surface, and you’ve stopped pedaling. At this time, what happens is, because of inertia, your vehicle will continue to move forward. And after some time, because of friction (external force), your bicycle will slow down.

#14 Inertia is seen while quickly hitting an index card placed on the top of a water glass

Inertia Example - Hitting An Index Card With Finger

Place one index card on the top of a water glass. And place one penny on an index card. Now, if you quickly hit an index card with your finger, then you’ll see that the penny will fall into a water glass, and an index card will fly away. The penny has inertia, so it will continue to remain in the rest position as before.

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Inertia Formula