Force and Inertia

The property of an object by which it resists a change in its state of rest or of uniform motion in a straight line is called inertia. Mass of a body is a measure of its inertia.

Forces have different kinds of effects:

(a) They may change the shape and the size of an object. A balloon changes shape depending on the magnitude of force acting on it.

(b) Forces also influence the motion of an object. A force can set an object into motion or it can bring a moving object to rest. A force can also change the direction or speed of motion.

(c) Forces can rotate a body about an axis.