Download excurse to the history of inertial force

EXCURSE TO
THE HISTORY OF INERTIAL FORCE
I
Igal Galili and Michael Tseitlin
H
P
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
T
S
Jerusalem 2010
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Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
EXCURSE TO THE HISTORY OF INERTIAL FORCE
Igal Galili and Michael Tseitlin
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
e-mail: [email protected]
Abstract
The concept of inertial force is one of the most important and the most difficult in
classical dynamics. It absorbed and increased the difficulties of both concepts of
force and inertia, both complex and obscure. However, just because of that, making
sense of inertial force may shed light on its both components. In fact, the notion of
inertial force designates a whole cluster of meanings and touches on different subjects
in science. This is seen in the history of physics brought here, that the term inertial
force was used in several different meanings, which co-exist today and usually cause
confusion of the novice learner. The account for the concept of inertia (inertial force)
provides a good example showing that scientific knowledge is after all a learned
ignorance (Nicholas of Cusa) but, at the same time, perhaps the only kind of powerful
knowledge associated with understanding and ability to use and benefit.
It is
therefore clear that teaching the topic of inertial force is never easy, but in the hands
of a trained teacher, the complexity and multiple meanings of "inertial force" can be a
powerful tool for achieving mature genuine knowledge of classical mechanics as well
as of the nature of scientific knowledge. In fact, without inertial force, and the
directly associated with it issue of non-inertial observer, the classical mechanics
cannot provide understanding of the most important aspect of movement – its
relativity. This excurse follows the development of the concept "inertial force", its
genetic consolidation in mechanics.
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Keywords: inertia, inertial force, centrifugal force, inertial and non-inertial observers,
equivalence of inertia and gravitation, operational definition of force
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Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
Introduction
Commonly, we use inertia to address phenomenon of spontaneous continuation of
certain state or activity after its cause, which originally supported this state or activity
ceased to act. After Aristotle, scientists seek for causes of everything that happens.
After the scientific revolution of the 17th century, even in general, non-scientific
context, we often replace the word cause with the word "force": "the force of
tradition", "the force of will", "the motive force". In fact, non-scientists use "the
force of inertia" as often as scientists: Why do we continue to do things when there is
no reason for them any more? Why things go on moving without any push? Why is
it difficult to put a heavy body into motion? Many people answer to these questions:
"because of inertia…" or because of "the force of inertia". However, only scientists
try to put exact meaning into this concept, which gradually consolidated in the course
of science history. We will follow this process in order to understand this scientific
meaning of "the force of inertia".
Inertia is what makes difficult
to put a body into motion!
Inertia is what preserves motion!
What is inertia?
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Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
Kepler's Inertia – the force of sluggishness
Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) – a prominent German scientist –
was among those few who performed the scientific revolution of
the 17th century. He worked in astronomy, optics and mathematics
and belongs to the founders of modern physics. He is especially
famous for his formulation of three laws of planetary motion that
he elicited from the rich data accumulated by his previous
Johannes Kepler
employer – Danish astronomer – Tycho Brahe.
Being educated in the tradition of Aristotelian physics, Kepler shared much of the
views from the Aristotelian views, in particular, on the nature motion. However,
unlike Aristotle and being an original thinker, he did not divide the universe into two
realms of different regularity – below and above the Moon (sublunary and
supralunary physics). Kepler, a contemporary of Galileo, did not stop at a mere
description of motion of celestial bodies, and did not take their motion as natural, but
continued to think about its causes, as a natural philosopher should do. Kepler
regarded the motion of celestial bodies as
violent (not natural). In his mind, the Sun
served as motor for the motion of the planets
(Fig.).
If
so,
within
the
Aristotelian
framework of dynamics, besides the agent
causing this motion there should be a special
feature of bodies – inertia: 1
Drawing of Kepler shows his
understanding of planet motion.
The sun rotates and emanates "rays
of power" (radial lines) which
while turning around the center
push the planet along its path – a
clear Aristotelian account of
motion.
If the matter of celestial bodies were not
embower with inertia, something similar to
weight, no force would be needed for their
movement from their place; the smallest
motive force would suffice to impart to them
an infinite velocity. Since, however, the
periods of planetary revolutions take up
definite times, some longer and others
shorter, it is clear that matter must have
inertia which accounts for this differences.
This small passage shows Kepler arriving
1
De causis planetarum, in Keper. J., Opera Omnia, Vol. 6, p. 342. The quote from: Jammer, M.
(1961). Concepts of Mass in Classical and Modern Physics. Harvard University Press, AmbridgeMass, p. 55.
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Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
at the far-reaching conclusion regarding the nature of the universe solely by breaking
one of the basic presumptions of the Aristotelian physics: the division of the universe
into two areas with different regularities.
However, Kepler immediately encountered a problem: why the periods of
planetary motions were different. Indeed, if one thinks about the cosmos as Greeks
did, as an organism, one rotating body, all its components should share the same
period of rotation. What makes the reality different? Kepler explained it by a special
feature of the celestial matter – inertia that discriminates between the planets, in their
ability to move under the action of the pushing force:2
If this were the case, would not the planets make their periodic returns at
he same time as the sun?
Yes, if only this were the case. But it has been said before this, that besides
this motor force of the sun there is also a natural inertia in the planets
themselves with respect to movement: hence by reason of their matter they
are inclined to remain in their own place. So the motor power of the sun
and the powerlessness of material inertia of the planet are at war with one
another. Each has its share of velocity: the motor power moves the planet
from its seat; the material inertia removes its own, i.e., the planetary, body
somewhat from those bonds by which it was laid hold of by the sun.
(emphasis added)
Kepler mentioned that that virtue was "something similar to weight". It was quite
in accord with Aristotelian view: weight of regular bodies causes resistance to their
violent motion, and the heavier the body is, the greater is its "resistance to motion"3:
v∝
F
W
(v- the speed of the body, F- the force of the mover, W – the weight of the body)
Instead, for the celestial bodies, deprived of weight Kepler coined the new
concept, determines their resistance to motion – inertia in order to explain the finite
speeds of the planets:
v∝
F
I
(v- the speed of the planet, F- the force of the Sun, I – inertia of the planet)
Why not weight? Seemingly, this was because if planets had weight they would
fall down in the pre-Newtonian physics… It was for this reason (planets do not fall)
that Aristotle totally deprived them from weight (the element comprising celestial
2
3
Kepler, J. (1618/1954). Epitome of Copernican Astronomy. Book, IV. p. 899.
See more about the Aristotelian dynamics in the excurse to the history of motion account in this
collection.
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Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
bodies – ether – was weightless). Therefore, Kepler could feel the need for a new
concept in order to explain resistance to motion regardless weight.
Worth to see, that our everyday use of inertia is often different. One may say: "I
keep moving by inertia", meaning, "I do not push any more, but keep moving". It is
the spontaneous motion that one often ascribes to inertia.
In contrast, Kepler's
concept addressed the feature of matter which regulated its response to the exerted
force of the mover – the sun pushing the planets. For Aristotle, this source of motion
(the effective cause) of planets was the Primary mover, and for Kepler – vis motrix
(life force), a sort of magnetic force (magnetic ropes or chains) acting between the
Sun and the planets. Inertia represented the inability of matter (of the planets) to
maintain motion, its inherent ‘laziness’, the intrinsic repugnance to motion and
propensity to the state of rest. We read:4
…the motor power [potentia vectoria] of the sun and the powerlessness
or material inertia of the planet [impotentia planetae] or its material
inertia are at war with one another.
Preventing unsupported motion of the planets, inertia of Kepler would return them
to rest if the force (vis motrix) between the Sun and the planet ceased to act: inertia
represented sluggishness of the body which is in proportion to its mater: 5
Inertia or opposition to motion is a characteristic of matter; it is
stronger, the greater the quantity of matter in a given volume.
One might think that by ascribing inertia to the planets, Kepler arrived to the
meaning we usually associate with inertial mass in classical mechanics.
This,
however, was not the case. Isaac Newton fundamentally changed the concept of
inertia.
Bernard Cohen – the renowned expert in Newton's legacy – made a
remarkable finding when he revealed Newton’s marginal remark in his private copy
of the first edition of the Principia. Newton wrote6:
I do not mean Kepler’s force of inertia by which bodies tend toward rest,
but the force of remaining in the same state whether of resting or of
moving. (emphasis added)
However, before we get to Newton, it is worth to take a look what Galileo, the
great contemporary of Kepler, had in mind in this regard.
4
Kepler, Op. cit.
Ibid.
6
Cohen, B. (1971). Introduction to Newton’s ‘Principia’. University Press, Cambridge, pp. XVI, 28.
5
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Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
Galileo's Inertia – indifference
Although the name Galileo is regularly related to "the law of
inertia", his views on inertia were different from ours too. He
never used the term inertia and never formulated the law of
inertia.7 However, he addressed inertial motion, as we call it
now, and therefore it is important to see his framework of
thought to be compared with others'.
Galileo Galiley
Galileo's view on inertia was not consistent and not too well
articulated. Preceding Newton in studying mechanics, he had no
all-forces picture of the world to account for motion and did not formulate his lawlike statements succinctly. Instead, he voluminously and repeatedly expressed his
views in non-formal dialogues, letters, assays, etc.
In his famous Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, Galileo made
Sagredo (the intelligent layman, initially neutral, representing an educated person of
common sense), not Salviati (who represented his own views), expressing a
seemingly regular view:8
I see in a movable body is the natural inclination and tendency it has to an
opposite motion. . . . I said internal resistance, because I believe that this
is what you meant, and not external resistances, which are many and
accidental. (emphasis added)
However, Salviati readily confirmed and refined, still making no statement:
I wonder whether there is not in the movable body, besides a natural
tendency in the opposite direction, another intrinsic and natural property
which makes it resist motion (emphasis added).
Here, Galileo showed here his thoughts similar to Kepler's comprehending of
inertia: the inherent resistance to motion. But in another place, in his letter on
sunspots, Galileo showed another view:9
I seem to have observed that physical bodies have physical inclinations to
some motion (as heavy bodies downwards), which motion is exercised by
them through an intrinsic property and without need of a particular
external mover, whenever they are not impeded by some obstacle. And to
some other motion they have a repugnance (as the same heavy bodies to
7
Drake, S. (1964). Galileo and the Law of Inertia, American Journal of Physics, 32, 601-608.
Galiley, G. (1632/1953). Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems. University of California
Press, Berkeley, CA, p. 213.
9
. Galiley, G. (1613/1957). Letters on Sunspots. In Drake, S. Discoveries and Opinions of Galileo.
Doubleday, New York, pp. 113-114.
8
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Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
motion upward), and therefore they never move in that manner unless
thrown violently by an external mover. Finally, to some movements they
[bodies] are indifferent, as are these same heavy bodies to horizontal
motion, to which they have neither inclination (since it is not toward the
center of the Earth) nor repugnance (since it does not carry them away
from that center). And therefore, all external impediments removed, a
heavy body on a spherical surface concentric with the earth will be
indifferent to rest or to movements toward any part of the horizon. And it
will maintain itself in that slate in which it has once been placed; that is, if
placed in a state of rest, it will conserve that; and if placed in movement
toward the west (for example), it will maintain itself in that movement.
Thus a ship, for instance, having once received some impetus through the
tranquil sea, would move continually around our globe without ever
stopping; and placed at rest it would perpetually remain at rest, if in the
first case all extrinsic impediments could be removed, and in the second
case no external cause of motion were added.
In this piece, Galileo started with quite medieval views on natural and violent
motion in falling bodies (Sagredo),10 but he also introduced the new idea. In between
the two Aristotelian motions natural (downwards) and violent (upwards), Galileo
found the third type: neutral, in between, the one keeping at the same distance from
the center of the Earth, therefore, on the circular orbit around the center, on the
surface of the Earth. This motion, as inferred by Galieo, left the body indifferent.
This motion was indeed the close predecessor of the inertial motion, motion, the one
without change and without support. This idea nicely accomplished Aristotelian and
medieval account of motion.
The point to keep in mind is, however, that such an inertial motion, as stated by
Galileo, was circular, although the phrasing used by him confused generations of
historians. Indeed, Galileo spoke about horizontal motion, leaving much space to
further questions:11
On a perfectly horizontal surface a ball would remain indifferent and
questioning between motion and rest, so that any the least force would be
sufficient to move it, just as any little resistance, even that of the
surrounding air, would be capable of holding it still. From this we may
take the following conclusion as an indubitable axiom: 'That heavy bodies,
all external and accidental impediments being removed, can be moved in
the horizontal plane by any minimal force.
10
Galileo, using Sagredo, represents the medieval explanation of the motion of a body tossed upward in
Galiley, G. (1636/1914). Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences. Dover, New York, p. 165.
11
Drabkin, I. & Drake, S. (1960). Galileo on Motion and on Mechanics. University of Wisconsin,
Madison, Wis., p. 171.
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Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
In light of the two mentioned views, the one close to Keplerian (resistance to
motion) and the one of his original (indifference to motion), it seems that Galileo,
eventually, combined the two. Stilman Drake wrote:12
Galileo must have been teaching it in his private classes, for one of his
pupils, Renedetto Castelli, who had left Padua some time before, wrote to
Galileo in 1607 mentioning "your doctrine that although to start motion a
mover is necessary, yet to continue it the absence of opposition is
sufficient."
This view shows that Galileo approached rather close to Newtonian understanding
of motion, but still remained premature. Leaving aside the circular inertial motion,
one of the cornerstones of the old physics refuted by Descartes13, a contemporary
reader would refine the "resistance to motion", by replacing with "resistance to the
change of motion", not to the motion itself.
Such resistance combines both
manifestations of inertia – resistance to begin motion as well as resistance to reduce it,
or in other words, preservation of motion.
And so we come to Newton.
Newton: inertial force and inertia of mass
Newton,
Sir
Isaac
(1642-1727),
was
a
remarkable
mathematician, physicist, and natural philosopher, one of the
most brilliant scientists of all times.
A Fellow of Trinity
College at the University of Cambridge, he produced one of
the most famous scientific books: the Mathematical Principles
of Natural Philosophy, known as the Principia, that was
published in 1687.
Isaac Newton
In his Principia, Newton introduced a new picture of the
world in which material bodies interacted only by means of forces. Newton abolished
the difference between natural and violent motions and the forces became the allinclusive framework of mechanics – the theory of motion.
12
13
Drake, S. (1964). Galileo and the Law of Inertia, American Journal of Physics, 32, 601-608.
More about Descartes' laws of motion in Module 1 (Understanding Classical Mechanics: A Dialogue
with Cartesian Theory of Motion).
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Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
Newton defined the concept of inertial force in the very beginning of the book,
where in a special chapter he defined the basic concepts of his theory. In his third
definition, he wrote14:
Inherent force of matter [vis insita] is the power of resisting by which every
body, so far as it is able perseveres in its state, either of resting or of moving
uniformly straight forward.
and immediately explained:
This [vis insita] force is always proportional to the body and does not
differ in any way from the inertia of the mass except in the manner in
which it is conceived. Because of the inertia of matter, every body is only
with difficulty put out of its state either of resting or of moving.
Consequently, inherent force may also be called
by the very significant name of force of inertia
[vis inertia]. Moreover, a body exerts this force
only during a change of its state, caused by
another force, impressed upon it; and this
exercise of force is, depending on the viewpoint,
both resistance and impetus: resistance in so far
as the body, in order to maintain its state, strives
against the impressed force, and the impetus in
so far as the same body, yielding only with
difficulty to the force of a resisting obstacle,
endeavors to change the state of that obstacle.
Resistance is commonly attributed to resting
bodies, and impetus to moving bodies; but
motion and rest, in the popular sense of the
terms, are distinguished from each other only by
point of view, and bodies commonly regarded as
being at rest, are not always truly at rest.
The force of inertia [vis insita] introduced by Newton was related to the first law
of motion. Too often this law is considered as a special case of the second law. It
was natural in the translation made in the past and changed only in the recent past.15
Within the recent interpretation, it appeared that the second law could be understood
as a refinement of the first. In this perspective, the first law should be rather stated as
following:16
Every body perseveres in its state of being at rest or of moving uniformly
straight forward, except in so far it is compelled to change its state by
forces impressed. (emphasis added)
14
Newton, I. (1687/1999). Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. Berkeley, CA: University
of California Press, p. 404.
15
Galili, I. & Tseitlin, M. (2003). ‘Newton's first law: text, translations, interpretations, and physics
education’. Science and Education, 12 (1), 45-73.
16
Newton, I. (1687/1999). Op. cit. p. 416.
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Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
Careful reading of this text reveals that it talks about the intention to preserve the
state of motion (or rest) when the external force is applied and not when the net force
is nullified. Traditionally, however, physics teachers keep with the simplified version
of the first Newton's law, in which this law becomes a trivial case of absent forces,
whereas the second law describes object behavior under the impressed force claiming
that the inertial mass inversely determines the acceleration of the body under the
influence of the force exerted.
In his approach to description of the reality, Newton always tried to address real
situations, that is the situation of active forces. This attitude was in contrast to Galileo
who tried to establish the laws of nature in their ideal form, corresponding to the ideal
situations (such as in the absence of friction). Therefore, the popular presentation of
the first law in physics classes goes with the tradition of Galileo rather than of
Newton.
The highly important for the physics was the revolutionary treatment of Newton
stating, in contrast to his all predecessors, the full equivalence of the states of rest and
motion. In particular, the change was striking from the Aristotelian claim that a body
is at state only when it rests, while being in motion it undergoes through a process of
changing state.17
In any case, vis insita described the intention of the body to preserve its state.
Indicatively, in the critique of Newton by Mach at the end of the 19th century, the
force of inertia was already removed from Newtonian mechanics18.
Let us clarify now the relationship between the mass, the quantity of matter and
inertia. We start with Newtonian Definition I:19
DEFINITION I. Quantity of matter is the measure of matter that arises
from its density and volume jointly.
following by explanation:20
I mean this quantity whenever I use the term body or mass in the following
pages.
17
Descartes was very close to Newton's understanding but did not reach it. See the module of
Cartesian laws of motion in this selection.
18
Mach, E. (1893/1960). The science of mechanics/A critical and historical account of its development.
Chicago. The Open Court, London, p. 241.
19
Newton, I. (1687/1999). Op. cit. p.403.
20
Ibid, p.404.
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Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
The above contains one of the most important and controversial ideas in the
theory of motion. When Newton wrote his Principia, it was the time to clarify the
fundamentals in the physical account of motion. Material bodies are characterized by
a variety of properties (form, weight, color etc.). Mass is not equivalent to matter, but
presents its property, the property of all material bodies. There is a reason why we
say "the mass of the body" and don't say "the matter of the body". Mass is the
quantified physical characteristic of the matter. Thus, we can say "big mass" and not
"big matter". Furthermore, mass presumes certain uniformity. We may say, that in a
crowd, "in a mass", people loose individuality and behave appropriately. We use
mass to emphasize the absence of differences, aiming only quantity.
Newton stated that mass was the quantity of the matter. On the first glance, it
looks obvious: the bigger mass – the bigger quantity of matter. However, let us think
how we know about the quantity of matter. In fact, matter is not given to us directly,
as an observable property. We estimate the quantity of matter only through the
properties of material bodies comprised of various kinds of materials (wood, metal,
etc.). What is fundamental characteristic of any material? It cannot be the number of
atoms – atoms are different – and neither their volume.
We might assume that the quantity of matter of two identical bodies is two times
more than such quantity in one of them. However, how could we compare the
amounts of matter in different bodies? If we cannot, then the quantity of matter
cannot be the primary physical notion that determines the mass.
Seemingly,
therefore, the quantity of matter should be secondary notion and should be expressed
in terms of inertia, as measured in practice.
In fact, the quality universal for all bodies is inertia. It is inertia that identifies the
mass of the matter. Gravitation is another such universal property of all material
bodies, and thus the gravitation describes the quantity of matter too. It is because
Newton believed that matter was more fundamental than inertia, he defined mass as a
quantity of matter and in the following treatment ascribed to the mass the feature of
inertia.
Euler in his Mechanics (see the following) understood that the quantity of matter
was a confusing notion, lacking operational definition independent of inertia. Indeed,
inertia is simply and directly measured through the force required to accelerate the
12
Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
body. Consequently, mass as a "quantity of matter" was abandoned in the rigor
theoretical physics. Only inertial mass remained as a central concept that appears in
the second Newton's law, in the definition of momentum – the quantity of motion, and
in the law of the universal gravitation.
Students often feel that the quantity of the matter is a clear notion. Therefore, in
introductory education, initial instruction, one may preserve Newtonian definition of
mass. However, later, in the course of study, one should be guided to discover that it
is more justified physically (operationally) to think of mass in terms of measure of
inertia, and only inferentially as the quantity of the matter proportional to inertia,
regardless any specific features of particular bodies.
Furthermore, the understanding of mass as inertial mass is ready for further
upgrading within the theory of relativity being closer to the fundamental relation
mass-energy. In fact, we may talk about the inertial mass of a photon (the particle of
light), but cannot talk about its quantity of matter, since its rest-mass is strictly zero.
So, inertia is the primary property of matter and the law of inertia presents the
fundamental ontological claim.
If for Descartes bodies were conceived by their
impermeable boundary (geometry), then, for us boundaries are secondary after inertia
of the body. The fact that masses of bodies were measured by their weights, as
mentioned by Newton in his explanation to definition I, illustrates that the quantity of
matter is secondary to the gravitational mass. Newton wrote:
… It is this quantity that I mean hereafter everywhere under the name of
body or mass. And the same is known by the weight of each body; for it is
proportional to the weight, as I have found by experiments on pendulums,
very accurately made, which shall be shown hereafter.
Newton showed the proportionality of weight to the inertial mass and considered
this discovery very important. The proportionality to the quantity of matter was only
an inference.
In the definition of inertia (Definition III), Newton related the internal force (vis
insita) to the magnitude of body, that is, its mass as already defined in Definition I:21
DEFINITION III. The vis insita, or innate force of matter, is a power of
resisting, by which every body, as much as in it lies, endeavours to
21
Newton, I. (1687/1952). Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy (Definitions, p, 5). Great
Books of the Western World. Encyclopedia Britannica, Chicago.
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Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
persevere in its present state, whether it be of rest, or of moving uniformly
forward in a right line.
This force is ever proportional to the body whose force it is; and differs
nothing from the inactivity of the mass, but in our manner of conceiving it.
A body, from the inactivity of matter, is not without difficulty put out of its
state of rest or motion. Upon which account, this vis insita, may, by a most
significant name, be called inertia [vis inertia], or force of inactivity. But a
body exerts this force only, when another force, impressed upon it,
endeavours to change its condition. (emphasis added)
In the explanation to the following Definition IV, defining the external
(impressed) force, Newton again mentioned inertial force as that which preserved the
state of uniform motion or rest of a body:22
DEFINITION IV. An impressed force is an action exerted upon a body, in
order to change its state, either of rest, or of moving uniformly forward in
a right line.
This force consists in the action only; and remains no longer in the body
when the action is over. For a body maintains every new state it acquires,
by its vis inertia only.
That far about Newton's view on inertial force in general context.
Euler: inertia is not a force
Leonhard Euler (1707–1783) was a Swiss mathematician who
greatly contributed to a wide range of topics in mathematics
and physics. As a young researcher, he comprised his treatise
– Mechanics, which was practically the first textbook on the
classical
mechanics
that
influenced
the
subsequent
development of mathematics, physics and philosophy. In it, he
Leonhard Euler
continued to use the term "inertial force" but already in the preface he wrote:23
… a state of conservation is an essential property of all bodies, and all
bodies, in as much as they are such, have the strength or facility to remain
permanently in their state, which is called nothing other than the force of
inertia. Indeed, calling the inertial effect a force for the source of this
conservation is less than suitable, since it is not a force of the same kind as
the other forces thus properly discussed, such as the force of gravity, nor
can it be compared with these; into which error many are accustomed to
fall, especially those involved in metaphysics, from the ambiguity of their
deceptive discussions. (emphasis added)
22
23
Ibid, p. 6.
Euler, L. (1736/2008). Mechanics or the science of motion analytically demonstrated. Vol. 1,
Preface, p. 3. Online: http://www.17centurymaths.com/contents/mechanica1.html
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Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
Euler's definition of inertial force defines it as a faculty of a body:24
The force of inertia [vis inertiae] in all bodies is that in faculty of the body
to maintain its state of rest or of continuing in its present state of
[uniform] motion in a straight line.
This definition coincides with the modern definition in physics textbooks today.
One may also pay attention to the fact that in his treatise Euler, unlike Newton, stated
first the law of inertia,25 and only after that, inertia was defined.
Since Euler wrote his Mechanics as a textbook (not as an original theoretical
essay), he explained things more than Newton did. In
Proposition 17, Euler tried to demonstrate the
important feature, which was stated by Newton as
obvious:26
The force of inertia of any body is proportional to the
quantity of matter, upon which it depends.
Euler argued for this as following27:
That [the force of inertia] therefore is to be estimated
from the strength or the force applied to the body, with
the aid of which it is to be disturbed from its state.
Truly different bodies equally [disturbed] in their state
are disturbed by forces, which are as the quantities of material contained
in these. Therefore, the forces of inertia of these are [also] proportional to
these forces.
In other words, we know by the second Newton's law (in the form F=ma) that if
two bodies, of masses m1 and m2, are accelerated to the same extent (a1=a2), then the
masses ("the quantities of matter") are in the same ratio as the forces are:
F1 m1
=
F2 m2
In this fact, Euler saw the evidence for the forces of inertia of the bodies also to be
in the same ratio as the ratio of their quantities of matter: different forces of inertia
caused by the same changes of motion.
24
Euler, L. (1736/2008). Op cit. Vol. 1, Ch. 1, Definition 9, page 18.
Euler, L. (1736/2008). Op cit. Vol. 1, Ch. 1, Scholium 1, page 17.
26
Euler, L. (1736/2008) op cit. Vol.1, Ch. 2, p. 59.
http://www.17centurymaths.com/contents/euler/mechvol1/ch.2.pdf
27
Ibid.
25
15
Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
We have demonstrated this result by using the second law of motion in the form
F=ma.
This was not, however, the form suggested by Newton.
As noted by
Jammer,28 the considered treatment of Euler was of particular importance, since
starting from it the famous formula F=ma ("force equals mass multiplied by
acceleration"), used by all of us today, eventually replaced the original Newtonian
claim, which was apparently different and be represented in modern symbols as:
Δ(mv) ∝ F
One may write the correspondent equation, instead of the proportionality as:
Δ( mv ) = FΔt
The new form of the Newton's law – F=ma – serves us as an accurate definition
of mass, as widely used in most of the modern textbooks of classical physics:
m=
F
a
In his later treatise, Euler returned to the criticism of the notion "inertial force"
and wrote:29
SCHOLIUM 95. Calling this property inertia indicates that character of
bodies, whereby being at rest means that they will continue to be at rest,
therefore as if they oppose not being in that state of motion themselves;
but since bodies set up in motion themselves equally oppose all to be
changed, either on account of the speed or direction, this name is not a
bad choice taken to account for the conservation of the state of rest or of
motion. Also now and then it is called the force of inertia, because the
force is a little resistant to the change of the state; but if the force is
defined by some cause, which is changing the state of the body, here it is
not in the least acceptable with this meaning; certainly the reason for this
strongly disagrees with that by which henceforth we show a force to be
acting. Whereby, lest any confusion should arise, we omit the name force
and this property of the body and we will call it by the simpler name of
inertia.
We read that Euler saw the force to be of active origin that exerted on the body
causing it to change its state, while inertia was due to the innate inert matter
(conserving the state). Therefore, he inferred that the term "force of inertia" was
contradictive and should be replaced by inertia to signify a property.
28
29
Jammer, M. (1961). Op cit. p.88
Euler, L. (1765/2009). Theory of the motion of solid or rigid bodies. [Theoria Motus Corporum
Solidorum Seu Rigidorum], Vol. 1, Ch. 2, Concerning the Elements of Internal Motion, p. 60.
http://www.17centurymaths.com/contents/mechanica3.html
16
Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
D'Alembert: inertial force as a fictitious force in Newton's second law
Another perspective on the inertial force was introduced by the
great French scientist and philosopher Jean le Rond d'Alembert
(1717-1783) who apparently was the first to introduce a very
different approach to this concept.30 D'Alembert started with the
adoption of the idea that force of inertia is a property of bodies
Jean d'Alembert
by which they preserve their state of rest or uniform motion.
However, unlike Euler, for whom this force was fundamental,
d'Alembert considered this approach ("a property") obscure and wanted to define all
forces in the same way: by their result – the change of motion.
For this purpose, he considered that Newton's second law, in the form suggested by
Euler: F = ma, was the best framework to account for forces. In fact, one may see this
law as a definition of force – "effective (or moving) force".31
Furthermore, within his rationalist intention to construct mechanics on universal
principles, d'Alembert (under the influence of Archimedes treatment of lever) sought
to reduce the physics of motion to the static principle of equilibrium.32 And so was
done. Simple manipulation with the second law
yields:
F - ma = 0
⇒
I ≡ - ma
⇒ F+I=0
Here a new force I was defined – the force of
inertia. Was it the old force of inertia? Yes, it
was. But if the old force was defined qualitatively
and thus obscurely ("tendency"), the new one was
given a precise mathematical formula. To support
this idea, one may think about force I, as the
"resistance to the change of motion", which
nullifies the effect of an impressed external force.
Together, the external agent and internal resistance
30
D'Alembert, J. (1758). Traité de dynamique. David Libraire, Paris.
Later this idea, to define force by means of Newton's second law, was adopted by other physicists,
supporters of positivist philosophy, such as Mach, Hertz and others.
32
We see here how strongly embedded in people the conceptual inequality between the state of rest and
the state of motion. The preference of Statics, the state of rest, over Dynamics, is purely Aristotelian.
31
17
Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
create a sort of balance, equilibrium. We have arrived to the d'Alembert principle:33
Any system of forces is in equilibrium if we add to the impressed forces the
forces of inertia.
Lagrange mentioned that d'Alembert reduced theory of motion to Statics.34 This,
however, was only an illusion. Dynamics was imbedded within the expression for the
force I (in the concealed acceleration a). Many physicists (e.g. Mach) saw the
meaning of this manipulation and said that d'Alembert did not say anything new: no
new physics can be obtained by transferring the term from one side of equation to
another.
Indeed, the essential difference between the forces, inertial I and external F, was
that the latter was always interactive (in correspondence with Newton's third law) and
the former was not. Therefore, for the physicists adopted Newton's paradigm of
mechanics (absolute and unique space-time, central interactive forces) d'Alembert
force of inertia was a mere hoax, and so it got an inferior status and even the name –
fictitious force. Much later, in the 20th century, it was understood in what sense
dynamics may indeed be reduced to statics: this change implies the change of the
observer (reference frame). This, however, required a whole new picture of the
world, not reached by physicists in the 18th and 19th centuries. The first step to this
picture was, however, made already in the 17th century by Christian Huygens.
New vision: Newton versus Huygens
The influence of Newton on the adopted by scientists framework
of physics thought was enormous. However there was another
brilliant mind – Christian Huygens (1629-1695), a prominent
Dutch physicist who worked almost in parallel to Newton and
produced alternative ideas regarding the most fundamental issues
of physics, both in mechanics and optics.
Christian Huygens
In the latter they
confronted the ideas of particle (light rays) paradigm of Newton
by the wave theory of light as elastic distortions in the ether medium.
In our excurse to the history of inertia, we touch on another fundamental idea –
the centrifugal force, which was differently interpreted by Newton and Huygens.
33
This is the modern formulation of the principle, as can be seen in Lanczos, C. (1949/1970).
Variational principles of mechanics. Toronto: University of Toronto, p. 90.
34
Lagrange, J. L. (1783). Mechanique Analitique. Desaint, Paris. Translated into Russian (1938) by
Gochman, V.S., GOSNTI, Moscow, p.176. Translated into English (1997). Boston Studies in the
Philosophy of Science, Vol. 191, Springer, New York.
18
Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
Introduced by Huygens in 1673 in his treatise De vi centrifuga (Concerning the
centrifugal force), the centrifugal force was associated with circular motion. We will
present both approaches one after the other, starting with Newton, which followed
Huygens after several years (Newton's Principia was published in 1687).
In considering circular motion, Newton first of all emphasized the centripetal
force – the force applied on a body and causing it to follow circular path (the ball on
the picture), instead of the inertial straight uniform motion. The centrifugal force –
the radial force outward the center of rotation – was
also addressed by Newton, but as the force that the
Fcp
Fcf
circling body exerted on the constraint, the other body
that caused this motion to the revolving body (on the
rope or the person on the picture).
In fact, in this subject, Newton
To throw a ball (hammer
throwing) the person first
rotates it around herself.
followed the steps of Descartes who
analyzed circular motion before
him.
Describing the circular motion of
Rene Descartes
a stone in a sling, Descartes explicitly explained that
because of the tendency of a stone to proceed in the
tangential direction, AG (Fig.), the centrifugal effect is
experienced by the sling: a radial tension which stretched
the sling outwards, along EAD, manifesting "endeavor"
(conatus, in Latin) to motion. This effect is a direct
consequence of the body's tendency to move along
Fcf
the straight tangential path ACG.
Newton adopted this view and, considering the
body moving inside a solid circular frame along the
sides of inscribed polygon, he wrote35:
Fcp
And if a body, moved with a given velocity along
the sides of the polygon, is reflected from the circle
at the several angular points, the force, with which
at every reflection it strikes the circle at each
35
Newton, I. (1687/1999). Op. cit., Book I, Section 2, Scholium, pp. 452-453.
19
Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
reflection, will be as its velocity: and therefore the sum of the forces, in a
given time, will be as that velocity and the number of reflections jointly; …
This is the centrifugal force, with which the body urges the circle; and the
opposite force, with which the circle continually repels the body towards
the center, is equal to this centrifugal force. (emphasis added)
This definition of the centrifugal force matches the framework of Newton's
paradigm of force: they are central and interactive, that is one always can point to a
pair of force obeying the Newton's third law. Much later, Hertz,36 elaborated on this
meaning of the centrifugal force: 37
We swing a stone attached to a string in a circle; we thereby consciously
exert a force on the stone; this force constantly deviates the stone from a
straight path, and if we alter this force, the mass of the stone or the length
of the string, we discover that indeed the motion of the stone occurs at all
times in agreement with Newton's second law. Now, the third law
demands a force opposing that which is exerted by our hand on the stone.
If we ask for this force, we obtain the answer familiar to everybody, that
the stone reacts on the hand by virtue of the centrifugal force, and that this
centrifugal force is indeed equal and opposite to the force exerted by us on
the stone. …
In summary, in Newton's mechanics, which became classical mechanics,
centrifugal force was a regular interactive force, the reaction to the centripetal force.
Huygens: The centrifugal force – the force for the rotating observer
Huygens view was highly original. In 1659, before Newton introduced his laws of
motion and theory of gravitation, Huygens' original mind produced the concept of
centrifugal force38 and determined its variables. Today we express this force in
modern symbolic way, by using the formula:
F=
mv 2
r
Huygens could only describe the dependence of what he considered to be
centrifugal force on different parameters: weight, velocity and radius of rotation, often
through comparison between two bodies in a similar situation.
36
Heinrich Rudolf Hertz (1857 – 1894) was a prominent German physicist. In his "Principles of
Mechanics Presented in a New Form" (1899) Hertz tried to create a new version of mechanics,
reconsidering the concept of force.
37
Hertz, H., Mechanics /Collected Works, Vol. III, p. 6
38
Huygens, Ch. (1659/1703). On centrifugal force. From De vi Centrifuga, in Oeuvres Complètes, Vol.
XVI, pp. 255-301, Translated by M.S. Mahoney.
Online: http://www.princeton.edu/~hos/mike/texts/huygens/centriforce/huyforce.htm
20
Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
However, one should not forget that Huygens never wrote this formula.
Moreover, before Newton people thought only in terms of weight, which was not
distinguished neither from inertial mass nor from the gravitational force, both
inventions of Newton. Also the concept of force itself was ambiguous and not well
defined concept, waiting for Newton's touch. And despite all these, Huygens was the
first who tried to describe physical situation from the point of view of the observer in
a rotating system. For that he used a thought experiment suggesting:39
Let us imagine some very large wheel, such that it easily carries along with
it a man standing on it near the circumference but so attached that he
cannot be thrown off; let him hold in his hand a string with a lead shot
attached to the other end of the string.
He made a statement regarding the tension in a string caused by the rotation and
promised to clarify this dynamic situation: 40
The string will therefore be stretched by the force of revolution in the same
way and with the same strength, whether it is so held or the same string is
extended to the center at A and attached there. But the reason why it is
stretched may now be more clearly perceived.
To facilitate understanding of
Huygens' writing we should first
present the modern account for
this case.
distinguish
T
O
b
In our view, we
between
the
Fcf
description of situation made by
-ma
observer A, outside the wheel
m
(Fig.) and that by observer B, on
B
the
mg mg*
A
wheel,
whom
considered
Huygens.
Observer A, the only one
considered
later
by
Newton,
observes the tension of the rope T
Body m suspended on the rope is located on the
rotating disc. The situation is similar to the one
described by Huygens.
39
40
and the gravitational force mg
acting on the mass m and fully
describes the rotation by means of
Ibid. p. 1
Ibid.
21
Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
the second Newton's law. As it is defined by modern physics, A presents inertial
observer, the only kind of observer for whom Newton's laws hold.
Observer B, considered by Huygens, does not see mass m at rotation (he rotates
with the disc) and states that the ball is at rest, hence – equilibrium of forces acting on
it. Tension T and the gravitational force mg are not sufficient to describe this state.
He needs additional force –ma to reach equilibrium. It is this additional force (Fcf),
not existing for Newton, but required by Huygens, that is termed today inertial force
(Fin = -ma). Observer B, is defined as a non-inertial observer (the one employing
inertial forces), and the rotating wheel presents a non-inertial frame of reference.
Within this perspective we may understand the meaning of D'Alembert step of
converting dynamic problem to a static one, as mentioned by Lagrange. It was the
transformation of the description from one (inertial observer) to another (non-inertial
one). Such a transition is accompanied by appearance of inertial force: Fin = - ma.
Huygens: The inertial force is similar to the force of gravity
Lacking Newton's theory of gravitation and Newton's laws of motion restricted
Huygens very much in his treatment of rotation. Nevertheless, he made an ingenious
guess trying to show that the gravity force is similar to the centrifugal force. Were he
know the formulas we know:
Fcf = m
v2
r
and
Fg=mg
he would immediately see that both forces are proportional to the mass of the object
and in this sense they are essentially similar (they coincide in form if one uses
notations aR= v2/R and ag=g).
This implies that observer B on the disc might be misled regarding the
gravitational force. This is because he does not distinguish between the gravitational
force and weight – for him the heaviness of the suspended body at rest is mg*.
Although observer A can clearly identify the gravitational weight (mg), he must
depart from the identity between weight (measured by how heavy is the body to
support) and the gravitation: for him they are different. This indeed could be the point
to split between the concepts: gravitation and weight, but Huygens, although was very
close to this inference, did not do it explicitly.
22
Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
Totally lacking the knowledge of laws of motion, but familiar with the works of
Galileo and Descartes, Huygens drew on their conceptions.
Unlike Newton, he
defined gravity using Descartes' notion of conatus:41
Heaviness is a tendency to fall [Gravitas est
conatus descendendi].
And then, he considered the rotating body fastened by a
rope.
Here, as was mentioned, Descartes specified the
radial tension in the rope – conatus.
The intention of
Huygens was to show that there is no difference between
this conatus and the tension due to the gravity. How could
he do it? Huygens showed that if one frees the stone from the rope and the stone
recedes along the strait line (in according with Descartes' second law of motion), then,
the distances from the center of the wheel increase in a sequence that was exactly
established by Galileo for the free fall of an object. This testifies, Huygens thought,
for the identity of the nature of the rotational conatus (the centrifugal force) and the
gravity. Here is the quote from Huygens' De vi Centrifuga:42
Let BG be a wheel that rotates parallel to
the horizon about center A. A small ball
attached to the circumference, when it arrives at
point B, has a tendency to proceed along the
straight line BH, which is tangent to the wheel
at B. Now, if it were here separated from the
wheel and flew off, it would stay on the straight
path BH and would not leave unless it were
pulled downward by the force of gravity or its
course were impeded by collision with another
body. At first glance it indeed seems difficult to
grasp why the string AB is stretched so much
when the ball tries to move along the straight line BH, which is
perpendicular to AB. But everything will be made clear in the following
way. Let us imagine some very large wheel, such that it easily carries
along with it a man standing on it near the circumference but so attached
that he cannot be thrown off; let him hold in his hand a string with a lead
shot attached to the other end of the string. The string will therefore be
stretched by the force of revolution in the same way and with the same
strength, whether it is so held or the same string is extended to the center
at A and attached there. But the reason why it is stretched may now be
more clearly perceived.
41
42
Ibid.
Ibid.
23
Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
Take equal arcs BE, EF very small in comparison to the whole
circumference, say hundredth parts or even smaller. Therefore, the man I
spoke of [as] attached to the wheel traverses these arcs in equal times, but
the lead would traverse, if it were set free, straight lines BC, CD equal to
the said arcs, the endpoints of which [lines] would not, however, exactly
fall on the straight lines drawn from center A through points E, F, but
would lie off these lines a slight bit toward B. Now it is clear that, when
the man arrives at E, the lead will be at C if it was set free at point B, and
when he arrives at F it will be at D. Whence we say correctly that this
tendency is in the lead. But now if points C, D were on the straight lines
AE, AF extended, it would be certain that the lead tended to recede from
the man along the line drawn from the center through his position; and
indeed such that in the first part of the time it would move away from him
by the distance EC, and in the second part of the time it would be distant
by the space FD. But these distances EC, FD, etc. increase as the series of
the squares from unity, 1, 4, 9, 16, etc. Now they agree with this series
ever more exactly as the particles BE, EF are taken to be smaller, and
hence at the very outset they may be considered as if they differed nothing.
Thus this tendency will clearly be similar to that which is felt when the
ball is held suspended on a string, since then too it tends to recede along
the line of the string with a similarly accelerated motion, i.e. such that in a
first certain period of time it will traverse 1 interval, in two parts of time 4
intervals, in three 9, etc.
Huygens' work on the centrifugal force is one of the most remarkable in
mechanics of the 17th century. He preceded Newton's treatment of mechanics which
though was more mature, did not considered non-inertial observers. In fact, he did
not consider observers at all. His view of one static universe, to be described in the
absolute space and time, implied one true observer – God. Therefore, also praised,
even by Newton, Huygens' work was not be truly evaluated by anybody, including
Huygens himself. Apparently, the time was not ripe for that. The idea of different
observers entered the physics theory only by the beginning of the 20th century. Albert
Einstein was the first who put inertial observers in the center of physics theory and it
happened only in 1905. He did the same with the non-inertial observers in 1916.
Huygens' non-inertial observer rotating with the wheel was actually able to
declare the principle of equivalence of the general theory of relativity: 43
There is no experiment observers can perform to distinguish whether an
acceleration arises because of a gravitational force or because their
reference frame is accelerating
43
Giancoli, D. C. (1988). Physics for Scientists and Engineers. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, p.
155.
24
Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
One may alternatively claim that this indistinguishability manifests the universal
for all matter equality (or proportionality) between inertial and gravitational masses.
Reality of inertial forces
Huygens opened the door to the new physics, but nobody entered that door at his
time, neither Newton, nor anybody else, including Huygens himself. Seemingly,
there was a need first to go and construct physics without observer (or, more exactly
of the unique observer) as Newton did. Even later, in the 18th century, as was shown
above, after d'Alembert in 1758 by simple manipulation
with Newtonian equation obtained the term of inertial force
FI = -ma, even then and thereafter until the 20th century,
this force was considered only as a casus: fictitious forces,
those one can manage without.
In the 19th century, physicists explained several
phenomena depended on the rotation of the Earth, as
observed by us, on the surface of the rotating globe – noninertial reference system.
Such descriptions essentially
involved inertial forces: centrifugal and Coriolis force (the
latter presents inertial
force
on
the
object
Centrifugal regulator of
a steam machine: its
simplest description is
by the rotating observer
and requires inertial
force – centrifugal force
moving in the non-inertial frame of reference, such
as rotating Earth).
The situation flipped, such phenomena as
Foucault pendulum, cyclonic motion of the air in
atmosphere and the difference in heights of banks
of the rivers running along the longitude line are
Cyclonic motion of the
atmosphere: its description by
the observer on the Earth
requires inertial force – Coriolis
force
inconceivable
without
inertial
forces,
and
physicists and engineers widely use them.
This is how Sommerfeld wrote in his famous
course of physics:44
44
Sommerfeld, A. (1952). Mechanics. Lectures on theoretical physics. Vol. 1. New York: Academic
Press.
25
Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
Incidentally, the operation of railroads furnishes a very vivid example of
the fact that the "fictitious" centrifugal force has a very real existence. On
the curve, the rail bed is banked in such a way that the outer rail is higher
than the inner. The difference in height is always such that for some mean
velocity of the train the resultant of gravity and centrifugal force is
perpendicular to the rail bed. This procedure eliminates not only the
danger of overturning about the outer rail, but also a harmful unequal
loading of the rails.
Summary
Our excursus to the history of "the force of inertia" revealed a complex and
impressive conceptual story.
In the ideas on inertia of Kepler, Newton, Euler,
d'Alembert, Newton and Huygens we observed different conceptions. Summarizing
these ideas could be helpful to understand the idea of inertia – one of the central in
modern physics:
Kepler introduced inertia and considered it as a passive resistance to motion
(sluggishness).
Descartes excluded the idea introduced by Kepler. He wrote: 45
I do not recognize any inertia or natural sluggishness in bodies…
His rationale was that there is nothing but a conservation of [quantity of] motion and
so only this principle governs the changes of motion of bodies.
Newton conceived inertia as an active internal force with which the body
preserves its state of uniform motion or rest and resists to their change. He also
distinguished between weight (gravitational force) and inertial mass.
Euler refused to consider inertia as a force and claimed it to be a faculty of the
body by which it maintains its state of motion or rest. He also introduced the new
form of the second Newton's law (currently used in introductory physics courses)
F=ma, in which inertia entered as inertial mass m.
Huygens introduced the inertial (centrifugal) force and revealed its reality while
considering rotating (non-inertial) observer. He obtained the functional dependence
of the centrifugal force:
Fc.f. =
45
mv 2
r
Descartes, R. (1976), Letter to Mersen. In Oeuvres de Descartes, C. Adams and P. Tannery (eds.),
Paris: J. Vrin, Vol. 2, p. 466.
26
Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
and demonstrated the essential similarity between the nature of the centrifugal force
and gravity. The centrifugal force was the first inertial force introduced into physics.
D'Alembert obtained the general form of inertial force, FI = -ma, but this step was
considered as a trick by which any dynamic problem is reduced to static one. Only in
the modern physics this same manipulation became a legitimate description of reality
by the non-inertial observer moving with the accelerating frame of reference.
Einstein, framed the modern physics by the possibility of multiple observers,
which legitimized the inertial forces (in the form of d'Alembert) as real forces (as was
the centrifugal force for Huygens), that is, defined operationally, by their effect
described by the non- inertial observer.
The personal history of inertia
Johan
Kepler
Christian
Huygens
Isaac
Newton
Jean
d'Alembert
Albert
Einstein
* * *
27
Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
Historical and philosophical background including nature of science
The nature of scientific knowledge is such that it develops gradually in the continuous
process of inquiry. So, at each moment, it presents a cumulative product of human
effort to make an objective sense of Nature, natural phenomena and reveal the
principles of world organization.
In the course of history, several scientific
revolutions occurred when the tension between the unexplained by the old theory
phenomena and the new theory, which did it and did it better, caused a conceptual
change, creation of a new picture of the world that replaced the old one. A close look
at the new theory may reveal that it always carries significant traces of the previous
ideas, concepts, and features. This thought once surprised Heisenberg, when he heard
it from Einstein. The idea that the new theory is inevitably linked to its predecessors
could be illustrated by the history of inertia. In any case, the knowledge of conceptual
roots in science occupies the history and philosophy of science and promotes a
genuine understanding of contemporary concepts on behalf of students and teachers.
Impetus – a conceptual predecessor of inertia
A close look may reveal that inertia concept possesses traces of the central concept of
earlier physics – the impetus. The latter was central in the medieval physics of
motion.46 In the course of the scientific revolution of the 17th century, impetus was
criticized and refuted due to the efforts of Galileo and Descartes. However, the idea
of a sort of "charge of motion" possessed by the moving body and causing bodies to
move seems reasonable to the common sense of people who associate motion with
certain faculty ("fuel of motion"). As such, it often presents a barrier to the novice
learner begins of physics. In complete similarity to impetus, classical mechanics
considers inertia to be the faculty of preserving by a body its state of uniform motion
or rest. Hence, inertia replaced impetus in its role to support motion in classical
physics after 17th century.
Two faces of inertia
Basing on the everyday experience, one may ask herself why is it difficult to move
things? And also, why do things, we set in motion, preserve movement for a while,
after we stop pushing them? Is there anything in the moving body, thought medieval
scholars, that prevents it from stopping, getting at rest which seemed to be a natural
46
See the correspondent module on the history of the theory of motion in this collection.
28
Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
state since Aristotle? Aristotle did not answer these questions. He did not ascribe to
bodies any inherent resistance: if the body was pushed, it moved in proportion to the
push. Kepler's view was the same. He only expanded this view to planets and for
them introduced inertia as the ability to resist the push from the sun.
The medieval scholars asked about that something which kept things in motion
but continued to see the resistance of bodies to start motion because of their weight.
Although these two phenomena might look different, Newton united them in the same
cause – inertia, the force resisting any change of motion. To unite several phenomena
under the same cause was one of his philosophical principles – rules of reasoning in
natural philosophy – that he followed. This step matched the physical relativity of
motion as stated by Galileo and known to Newton.
Suppose we observe body accelerating from the rest (v1=0 at t1=0) to the velocity
of 1m/sec (v2=1 at t2=1). The same body would be seen to the observer moving with
the velocity V=1m/sec in the same direction as another change: from v'1=-1 (at t1=0)
to v'2=0 (at t2=1). Galileo stated that there were no differences between the two
pictures; the first observer saw the body accelerating from the rest to motion and the
other – decelerating from motion to rest! So, Newton inferred: as long as we go with
physics, there should be one faculty of bodies which do both: resist to "motion" (one
observer) and causes motion preservation (another observer). This universal faculty
was inertia.
This progress made by Newton regarding inertia might remind recognizing by the
ancient astronomers that "evening star" and "morning star" were actually the same
object, planet Venus, that being close to the sun may appear to us at sunset or sunrise.
Evolution of the role of observer
Historically, the laws of motion were established first by Newton and they are valid
for describing reality only by inertial observers. The work of Huygens exploring the
view of the rotating observer was confusing. This confusion was removed only after
clarifying the status of inertial forces. It became clear that these forces are particular
for the non-inertial observers and allow them to apply the same framework of laws of
motion. Expansion of the area of validity, the ability to serve any observer, represents
the nature of science, which seeks the most inclusive framework of universal and
objective account for natural phenomena – no discrimination among the observers.
29
Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
One may identify three important periods in the perception of the role of observer:
I.
The physics of Aristotle. In it, the universe, cosmos, was considered to be
spherical, finite, static and geocentric in appearing to the observer who by
contemplation can reveal its nature and law-kind regularity.
II.
The classical physics of 17-19 centuries changed this picture, but, in a
sense, not too much. Newton stated the space to be absolute and immobile
reservoir of the world moving in absolute time – in a sense, quite in accord
with the Aristotelian view. The change in understanding the universe as
infinite and Galileo's relativity made all inertial observers equal in
practicing physics, but all of them observed the same unique picture (force
description of the reality). Other viewers were illegitimate in physics.
III.
The modern physics (from the 20th century) cause the fundamental change.
Following the vision of Einstein, any observer became legitimate for
physical description. Non-inertial observers used for that inertial forces.
Physics reached the universal picture of the world by means of objective
laws, which could be formulated regardless the observer.
Furthermore, the introduction by Einstein the principle of equivalence, which
states identity of the force of inertia to the gravitational force for the non-inertial
observer, allowed the new understanding of weight of the body and caused by either
gravitation or inertia.47
Making all observers equally legitimate in physics was
establishing a philosophical principle of the fundamental importance.
Expanding the concept of force
The history of inertial force touches on the meaning of the concept of force in general.
It was Newton who created an all inclusive paradigm of classical mechanics with the
concept of force in its center: the universe was considered as an empty space with
point masses interacting in pairs by means of central forces. Being central implied the
force exerted by one particle on the other on the line connecting between them.
However, his definition of impressed force was more inclusive:48
An impressed force is an action exerted upon a body, in order to change
its state, either of rest, or of moving uniformly forward in a right line
47
See more about the weight concept in the special module of the history of this concept in this
collection.
48
Newton, I. (1687/1952). Op.cit., Definitions, Definition 4, p. 6
30
Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
This definition does not restrict force to be central or interactive (as the
gravitational force) but to exclude any other factor causing the change of state of rest
or motion. Perhaps it is not fair to expect from Newton this subtlety at the time when
all known interactions (gravitational, static electricity and natural magnets
(loadstones)) worked at straight line between the agent and subject.
Only the
discovered by Oersted in 1820 force of electric current on magnetic needle, and the
magnetic force on a charge introduced by Maxwell in 1861 were not central. They,
however, still matched the Newtonian requirement of forces: they caused the change
of state of motion.
The new requirement of operational concept definition for physical quantities was
recognized later, by the positivistic philosophy of science starting from Mach49,
Kirchhoff and Hertz, at the end of the 19th century. This was an epistemological
revolution in physical concepts. Following it, Einstein applied operational definition
to simultaneity in the theory of special relativity, which caused the new scientific
revolution in 1905.
The requirement for operational definition for any physical quantity was the basis
of the special philosophical trend – operationalism.50 Later it was moderated by
modern philosophers of science,51 by demonstrating the necessity of both nominal
(theoretical) and operational definitions to define concepts in physics. In any case,
ever since, the importance of the operational definitions was widely recognized in
physics.
After this introduction, the problematic of inertial force becomes clear: one need
to provide an operational definition of force. In the classical physics, the force is
often determined as a manifestation of interaction between objects. The inertial force
is not interactive and failed to be the force in this perspective (one cannot point to the
pair of objects interacting by means of this force: action-reaction air). However, if
one introduces an operation definition of force (as a cause of elastic deformation of a
spring of the force-meter) inertial forces become legitimate (causing the change of
state of motion), a subject to measurement by an observer (the non-inertial observer).
This development, the recognition of the inertial forces as real, presents an impressive
illustration of the epistemological change introduced by the modern physics
49
e.g. operational definition of mass in Mach (1893/1970). Op. cit.
Bridgman, P. (1927/1952) The Nature of Some of Physical Concepts. New York: Philosophical
Library.
51
e.g., Margenau, H. (1950) The Nature of Physical Reality. New York: McGraw-Hill, pp. 220-244.
50
31
Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
On the nature of the scientific knowledge
The history of inertia illustrates the dialectical nature of the scientific knowledge.
Following this history one observes that evolution of understanding of inertia started
from qualitative descriptions and eventually arrived to the accounts by formal
principles. The qualitative and formal (mathematical and quantitative) accounts for
inertia developed synergistically and are deeply interwoven.
Indeed, as long as the first ideas of inertia by Kepler and Galileo were solely
qualitative the concept of inertia could not have practical applications.
Newton
started with the same approach in his first law, but then he introduced a quantifiable
concept of inertial mass, m, and the second law, which resulted in flourishing of
various applications, mathematical accounts of physical systems.
Importantly, Huygens' innovative application of dynamics to the observer on a
rotating wheel and obtaining by him functional dependence of the centrifugal force,
the first inertial force known, did not cause further progress at that time. The fact of
proportionality of inertial to the gravitational mass was also known to Newton (see
above the quote from Principia). However, he failed to explain it and could only
express his surprise of such coincidence. Inertia remained an enigma: Huygens failed
trying to use his centrifugal force in explaining gravitation as a residual force, and
D'Alembert's inertial force was considered only as a trick, good for problem solving.
The philosophers of physics abandoned fictitious inertial forces.
It all changed soon after the elucidating interpretation of the same reality
provided by Albert Einstein in his theory of general relativity, in 1916. Non-inertial
reference frames made inertial forces legitimate in physics.
One may imply that neither practical use of physical construct nor its
interpretation exclude or surpass each other in importance. They coexist in dialectical
complementarity in science. The later presents the major feature of the scientific
method. Paraphrasing Einstein, one may say that conceptual understanding without
mathematics is empty but mathematical formalism without conceptual interpretation
is blind.
Furthermore, the history of inertial concept testifies for the special diachronic
discourse maintained in physics regarding certain fundamental concepts. If after the
first part of this excurse we could summarize the history of the inertial force and
represent it in a line of inventions of physicists followed each other in a chronological
32
Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
line (see above); now, considering the conceptual genesis of the inertial force, we may
represent the same process as a diachronic dialogue of the great minds. In a sense, this
representation ignores the time the certain scholars were active and represent the
nature of the scientific knowledge in a different manner as demonstrated in the
following picture. It is in this sense the scientific knowledge is cumulative.
It is a fictitious force
of reaction
Tendency similar
to gravity
It is a push of
medium
It is a feature of a
material body
Indifference to
motion
Gravity and inertia
are indistinct
It is laziness of
material bodies
It is impetus…
It is an illusion of force, just an
implication of motion conservation
It is an internal force
On the nature of scientific concepts
The concept of inertial force may shed light on the nature of scientific concepts. The
fact that inertial force "exists" only for non-inertial observers suggests clarification of
concepts "existence" – an ontological aspect of physics knowledge. We often use to
consider interactive forces as if really existed. In what sense do they exist?
A discussion on this topic may lead to recognition of force (a physics concept) to
be an artifact, a mental tool to describe certain objective reality. If it appears that
people can imagine alternative descriptions, forces may disappear (there is no forces
in classical sense in quantum theory!), similarly to the disappearance of inertial forces
for the inertial observers.
Thus, in the general theory of relativity, there is no
33
Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
gravitational force, but a curved space-time which causes the effect ("attraction" of
material objects) that we describe in classical mechanics by means of the gravitational
force.
Reference to the status of inertial force, therefore, may lead one to the discovery
of the true status of scientific concepts which we operate with so freely, normally
without any second thought. Distinguishing between the physical description and the
real world may eventually arrive to the appreciation of the difference between
physics, as human knowledge, and the real world that the humankind makes its best to
describe by means of physical theories and physical concepts.
* * *
Target group, curricular relevance and didactical benefit
As was shown, the topic of inertia and the forces of inertia are not new in physics.
Making legitimate non-inertial observers was the progress in the modern physics
already at the beginning of the 20th century. Therefore, considering inertial forces in
physics class could introduce students into the ontology and epistemology of the
modern physics.
However, the system of education is slow in following this
development. The gap between science and curriculum with regard to the inertial
forces is already about 100 years, despite of no formal complexity related to this
topic. Inertia and inertial forces are usually not included in regular and even the
advanced placement secondary school curriculum.52
The exposed here historical excurse may support teachers, curriculum designers,
science museums, and policy makers in education in changing this policy and
including inertial forces into the science curriculum.
Another goal for this project is to illustrate worthiness of using the history of
science in regular teaching physics. Researchers of science education observed that
teachers refrained from using historical materials:53
… even materials produced for teachers, for example, those produced in
the UK … are not used. Attempts to produce restructured courses that
put history at the center of the enterprise … have enjoyed only marginal
success, as have those that have sought to introduce a more rigorous and
current view of the philosophy of science …
52
53
The situation in the secondary education in Israel, the UK, and the USA.
Monk, M., & Osborne, J. (1997). Placing the History and Philosophy of Science on theCurriculum: a
model for the development of pedagogy. Science Education, 81(4),405-424.
34
Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
Science educators and scientists involved in teaching also explained their negative
attitude to using HPS-based materials.54 They usually reason by two factors:
(a) teachers believe that historical materials, by presenting old theories,
conceptions and scientific methods that were surpassed in the course of physics
development, put astray the learners, confuse them by contents not relevant for
studying physics today;
(b) teachers often state total lacking of time for including additional materials into
the instruction already overloaded by the abundance of materials required by the
curriculum.
Our examination, however, suggests that there could be another reason behind
these two: the programs of teacher training (as well as the regular programs of
training practitioners in science) normally do not include any exposure to the
philosophy of science and neither to the history of science.55 Clearly, lacking the
appropriate background, people cannot evaluate the beneficial potential of such type
of materials, at least in parallel to the different reasons to avoid using the history and
philosophy of science.
For this very reason, our historical excurse was developed. It addresses, first of
all, the teachers of physics – prospective and already practicing – showing that
historical materials are worth, relevant and beneficial. We invested a special effort to
expose the gradual consolidation of the present understanding of inertial forces
through several steps made by brilliant minds of the past who developed the concept
of inertial force. In educational perspective, this material may serve as a teaching unit
and a resource, original and not available in this form in other places.
What makes using historical materials essential? Among other reasons,56 we may
mention the specific rationale with regard to the inertial forces and non-inertial
observers. It is commonplace to admit that teaching science in order to be effective
54
Galili, I. & Hazan, A. (2001a). Experts' views on using history and philosophy of science in the
practice of physics instruction. Science & Education, 10 (4), pp. 345-367.
55
The situation in Israel.
56
This issue in general terms was elaborated in the paper Galili, I. (2010), Promotion of Cultural
Content Knowledge through the use of the History and Philosophy of Science, submitted to Science
& Education.
35
Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
should address the naïve knowledge of the learners in the considered topic. This
presents a central tenet of educational constructivism.57
The topic of inertial forces and non-inertial observers obtains its special
importance because in the regular life environment of the modern society, a person
frequently finds oneself in considerably accelerating systems, accumulating rich
experience as a non-inertial observer, and observing such environments in the media
(films, news, and documentary).
In many real-life situations, it is simply impossible to ignore such sense
experience (sense-data): in accelerated vehicles, while jumping and falling, observing
astronauts in space stations and many others. Moreover, we all use to ignore the
experience as inertial observers for its routine nature. Personal sense experience of
students as non-inertial observers cast their naive knowledge organized in explanatory
patterns (schemes of knowledge58). They structure our common sense as deeply
entrenched believes. In class teaching, these naïve and often wrong schemes (known
under the name alternative or mis-conceptions) often collide with the "teacher's truth"
presented for learning. This collision significantly impedes the result of learning
which often presumes a radical conceptual change (Fig.)59. This is especially true
regarding inertial forces, due to the rich experience in non-inertial frames of
reference. Even good students widely use in practice inertial forces despite of the
apparent contradiction with the curriculum and the instruction they received.60
Schemes of naïve
knowledge
Generated explanations
of reality based on the
schemes
The principles of classical
mechanics – "Teacher's
knowledge" of mechanics
Students' conceptual change in the course of learning can be represented as an exchange of
contents between the core ideas and periphery knowledge (shown by arrows)
57
Duit, R. & Treagust, D. F. (1998). Learning in science - from behaviorism towards social
constructivism and beyond. In B. Fraser & K.G. Tobin (Eds.), International handbook of science
education (pp. 3–25). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer.
58
e.g. Galili, I. & Hazan, A. (2000). Learners' knowledge in optics: interpretation, structure, and
analysis. International Journal in Science Education, 22(1), 57-88.
59
Tseitlin, M. & Galili I. (2005). Teaching physics in looking for its self: from a physics-discipline to a
physics-culture, Science & Education, 14 (3-5), 235-261.
60
Galili, I. & Kaplan, D. (2002). ‘Students’ interpretation of water surface orientation and inertial
forces in physics curriculum’. Praxis der Naturwissenschaften Physik in der Schule, 51(7), pp. 2-11
36
Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
Technology provides another strong motivation to deal with inertial forces.
Modern society is saturated with different manifestation of inertial forces: all kind of
centrifuges for separation of different materials in their densities, regulators of
rotation speeds (Watt's centrifugal regulator), rotational satellite (meanwhile available
only in science fiction movies like "2001: A Space Odyssey" by Kubrik), etc. Each
teacher for car driving uses the concept of centrifugal force to explain why one should
not drive too fast on a curved road. Seemingly, inertial forces are used everywhere
but in the physics class. This ignoring reality is not a recommended curricular policy
in all educational approaches.
Centrifugal regulator
of spinning rate
Rotational space station providing weight to its
inhabitants. The idea is used in science fiction
movies such, such as "2001: A Space Odyssey" by
Stanly Kubrik, seen by many students.
Another aspect of the relevance of treating inertial forces in physics class may
stem from the research reports that inform about students' naïve materialization
("reification") of abstract physical quantities such as heat, force, light, electric current,
gravity, potential, light ray, etc.61 Discussion of inertial forces – existed to some
observers, but not to the others, may lead to the remedy of this naïve knowledge.
Confusing terminology
The force of inertia is the notion that may cause confusion for its multiple meanings
used by different authors.
Perhaps the most striking problem is related to the
impression on students and teachers of the titles "fictitious" and "pseudo" often
attached to the inertial force.
In this regard, one may recollect that these terms were introduced into physics
with regard to d'Alembert results, not understood for a very long time beyond a trick
61
Reiner, M., Slotta, J.D., Chi, M.T.H., & Resnick, L.B. (2000). Naive Physics Reasoning: A
Commitment to Substance-Based Conceptions. Cognition and Instruction, 18(1), 1–34. Galili, I. &
Lavrik, V. (1998). Flux concept in learning about light. a critique of the present situation. Science
Education, 82 (5), 591-614.
37
Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
of theoretical physics.62 It is recommended, therefore, to check the time when this or
other quote of the scientist, used as a reference, was made. The clarification of the
status of the non-inertial observers was performed only by Einstein and never before.
In the modern physics, forces are defined operationally, and therefore, inertial forces
are legitimate dynamic characteristics of physical situation, keeping in mind the
particular frame of reference used for the description.
Another kind of confusion is possible with regard to the meaning of centrifugal
force. Some authors still use it in the meaning of Newton, that is, as an interactive
partner of the centripetal force. In this definition, the centrifugal force is the force
acting on the constraint (the rope, sling, hand or thread that causes the object
revolving around certain axis). This use has nothing to do with non-inertial observers.
As the way to avoid confusion, it is recommended to carefully clarify the meaning
of inertial force used by the particular author or lecturer. The importance of the
concept definitions in physics teaching was demonstrated.63 It illustrates physics as
an exact science. The need for rigor definition of concepts became a characteristic
feature of the scientific knowledge in contrast to arts.
The relationship of inertial forces with weight
Since
the
gravitational
force
is
identical in effect to the inertial force,
as
stated
by
the
principle
of
equivalence, the operational definition
of weight ("weight is the result of
weighing") allows both gravitational
and inertial forces equally contribute
to the weight of the object. Therefore,
teaching inertial forces could be
related to teaching weight (including
Weight in the rotational cabin of the spaceship
as shown in movie Stanly Kubrik "2001: A
Space Odyssey".
weight due to the centrifugal force) and thus making learning physics more
conceptually interrelated and therefore more meaningful.
62
The formal designation of F=-ma as a force of inertia was made more than one hundred years after
d'Alembert by French mathematician and astronomer Charles Delaunay who presented the results of
d'Alembert. We, however, may not change the tradition of ascribing this step to d'Alembert.
63
Galili, I. & Lehavi, Y. (2006). Definitions of physical concepts: a study of physics teachers'
knowledge and views. International Journal of Science Education, 28 (5), 521-541.
38
Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
Teaching about the inertial force supports the operational definition of weight and
facilitates it with the definition: "Weight is the force exerted by the object on its
support. It could be due to either gravitational or inertial forces". This relationship
between the two forces was foreseen by Huygens as early as in 1659.
* * *
Activities, methods and media for learning
Questionnaires, inquiry suggestions, role-play activities
It is very important to ask students straightforward conceptual questions to provide
them with an opportunity to articulate their conceptual understanding. Among such
questions regarding the subject of inertia and inertial forces, there could be the
following:
•
Inertia was introduced by Kepler in the 17th century. How could scholars
managed in describing the same reality before Kepler? Consider separately
Aristotelian and medieval periods.
•
Descartes did not recognize inertial force and stated sufficient to account for
reality by means of conservation of motion in collisions: big body receive less
speed. Argue whether this approach allows avoiding inertial forces.
•
Is inertia a force? Illustrate your answer.
•
When we set in motion a heavy revolving door of a hotel, what do we struggle
with: (a) the force of gravity, (b) friction, (c) inertia? – Explain your choice
and refutation of other options.
•
What is the force of inertia? Bring few examples of action of inertial forces.
•
Describe physical situations which justify the use of inertial force. What is
special in such situations?
•
Why physicists ascribed to label fictitious to the inertial force? What is wrong
with these forces? Are they real?
•
Descartes and Huygens tried their best to explain gravitation by means of the
centrifugal force. How could it be possible if the centrifugal force by its
definition directs outwards, from the center of rotation whereas the
gravitational force attracts bodies inwards, to the center of attraction?
39
Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
•
Explain the movement of the body of a driver in a suddenly stopping (or
quickly accelerating) car.
•
Small helium balloon is floating inside a stopping car. Show the inertial force
exerted on it and explain the movement of the balloon in a stopping (or
accelerating) car. Relate your answer to the explanation of gravitation by
Descartes and Huygens.
•
Imagine a debate between Newton and Einstein regarding the inertial forces.
Newton would reject them and Einstein – support. Who was right in this
debate? Explain.
•
Huygens did not consider his centrifugal force fictitious but real. Feynman in
his course called inertial forces “effective” (acting as a force). Hertz thought
that all forces are fictions. Who was right?
•
In Newton's famous thought experiment with a rotating bucket, water surface
became curved and receives a parabolic shape.64
Try to explain this
phenomenon with and without using centrifugal force. Which description is
easier for you? Which one is correct?
Furthermore, students are often interested in debates, defending description of
either with or without inertial forces. Students may prepare themselves for such a
debate by reading the related materials, including the excurse above and the
mentioned here questions.
Students may imagine their heroes as cultural and
historical figures living in certain social historical environment. The Internet presents
the most available recourse for the materials facilitating this kind of activity. Here are
some useful links:
http://www.rarebookroom.org/ – The "Rare Book Room" site may allow
the visitor to examine and read some of the great books from the history of
science.
http://gallica.bnf.fr/?lang=en – "Gallica" an online library of the National
Library of France makes available works of many authors from the history
of science and philosophy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Gutenberg – Project Gutenberg is the
Internet's oldest producer of free access to digital books.
Among other resources of learning materials in the history of mechanics are:
64
Newton, I. (1687/1999). Op.cit., Definitions, Scholium, p. 407.
40
Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
- the historical overview of mechanics by Lagrange, one of the major contributors to
the formulation of classical mechanics in its canonical analytical form used today in
theoretical physics;65
- Hertz's presentation of classical mechanics could be elucidating, since he suggested
a different framework of forces and included inertial forces.66
- Einstein and Infeld made a historical overview of mechanics,67 where they explained
the introduction of inertial forces in modern perspective.
Discursive activity
The appeal to the past is a cultural action in which knowledge appears as human
product of continuous effort. Culture is commonly understood as dialogical by its
very definition. Indeed, culture includes various ideas suggested by different people
and in different historical periods. Every idea contributes to culture although does not
play equal role in a particular inquiry. This perception presents an achievement of the
philosophical thought of the 20-th century and could be referred to Bakhtin's
dialogical approach68 to understanding and teaching. Within it, one may say that
different viewpoints on the forces of inertia establish a discourse, or dispute, which
investigates the subject from different point of view.
To facilitate the class practice of this approach we extract here the historically
separated ideas of inertia and inertial forces and suggest them as dispute positions in a
cultural dialogue to be arranged in a class. This type of activity is quite unusual and
therefore we present these views again in a list:
Kepler: Inertia is laziness (sluggishness) of bodies by which they impede any
motion, striving to remain at rest. (although this view originally addressed only
planets we expanded it to all material bodies).
Descartes: There is no inertia or inertial force at all. Objects obey conservation
of motion and keep it naturally. No cause is required to proceed motion.
65
Lagrange, J. L. (1788/1997). Analytical Mechanics (Introduction). Kluwer Academic Publishers,
Dordrecht.
66
Hertz, H. (1894/1956). The Principles of mechanics presented in a new form. New York: Dover.
http://www.archive.org/details/principlesmecha00hertgoog
67
Einstein, A. & Infeld, L. (1938/1967). Evolution of Physics. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.
68
Bakhtin, Mikhail Mikhailovich (1895-1975) was Russian philosopher and literary critic. He is
especially known in our days for his introduction of dialogism, and spatio-temporal description
(chronotope) of social narratives and situations in their plurality of meanings.
41
Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
Newton: The inertial force is the internal force by which any material body
struggles with any external agent. The agent tries to change the state of the
uniform rectilinear motion or rest of the body and the latter resists.
Hugens: The inertial (centrifugal) force is a real force acting radially outward.
The centrifugal force is exerted on the rotating body. This force is similar in
nature to the gravity.
Euler: Inertia is a faculty embedded in all bodies causing their ability to stay at
the state of rest or continuous uniform rectilinear motion. The resistance to the
change of motion manifests itself in the inertial mass of the body. The whole
phenomenon is formally expressed by the second law of motion in the form:
F=ma.
Physicist of the 18-19 centuries: The inertial force is the name for the term in
the equation of motion: -ma. This construct is not a force, although it has a
dimension of force. This is because one cannot point to the pair of bodies
interacting with such force. Therefore one may call it a fictitious force. Inertia
of the body ie represented by inertial mass m in the second Newton's law.
Modern technician-engineer: Inertia is the force acting on the spinning body
pushing it radially outwards. It is this force that breaks the rope or thread
holding the rotating body when the spinning rate increases. (Isn't that a proof
that this force is real?)
Modern physicist: The forces of inertia are forces, which allow the description
of reality by non-inertial observers (the observer in accelerating systems).
Inertial forces make possible using the same laws of motion by all observers.
Expert in gravitation: The inertial force is indistinguishable (locally, that is, in a
small area) from the force of gravitation and manifests the curvature of the
space-time in the particular location.
Although the teacher normally identifies him/herself with physicist's view, it is
essential that students meet with multiple views. This type of teaching creates an
42
Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
extended space of learning and teaches the goal concept in variation – the method
proved to be effective for the meaningful learning.69
This approach also fits to the perception of
modern scientific thinking as dialogical. The
scientific knowledge allows multiple points of
view.
Cultural knowledge implies the
knowledge of alternatives.
This nature of
science may be contrasted by the religious idea
of a single truth, one reaches in a linear
progress of learning and development, as
represented by a ladder in popular images.
* * *
Obstacles to teaching and learning
The main difficulty of the considered topic is that the forces of inertia are different
from interactive forces, such as, for example, the force of electric or gravitational
interaction, friction, buoyant force. Although each of them is special, all of them are
interactive and none was labeled fictitious. This presents a difficulty to leaning and
teaching. History of science reveals the controversy related to the inertial forces and
explains the contradiction between the Newtonian framework of forces with the
framework of the non-inertial observers.
Instead of the straightforward rejection, physics teachers may afford a wiser, more
subtle standpoint. They may suggest first to familiarize with the arguments of several
sides, "for" and "contra" of inertial forces.
Knowledge of the historical background may shake the rigidity of the extreme
attitudes. Knowledge of several options (the space of knowledge) usually causes
certain tolerance and plurality on behalf of the person who possesses such knowledge.
Clarification of Newton's views on the inertial force, the criticism of Euler, Newton's
interpretation of centrifugal force (the force on the constraint), the formal approach of
d'Alembert, operational definition of force and evolution of the role of observer – may
69
Marton, F. & Tsui, A.B.M. (2004). Classroom discourse and the space of learning. Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum.
43
Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
all soften the rigidity of those ignoring inertial forces in favor of the "simple truth" of
inertial account.
The arguments in favor of the reality of inertial forces often refer to the "real
effect produced by inertial forces". Thus, the rotating stone may break the sling when
one increases the rate of rotation, testifying for the reality of the tension caused by the
centrifugal force. Could it be merely fictitious?
This seems to some being a cut edge argument, an ultimately convincing claim,
but in fact, it suffers from a serious logical shortcoming. Arguing by real effect does
not say anything regarding forces which are a tool of description not a real object.
Indeed, the tension is the string is real, but in the viewpoint of an inertial observer it
has another cause – the inertial mass of the rotating stone, striving to proceed along
the line tangential to the circle. At a sufficiently high speed of the body, the effort to
cause it the required turn is beyond the ability of the thread to sustain such tension it
breaks. It is only the rotating (non-inertial) observer, who does not observe any
motion of the stone, needs "the real cause" for breaking the thread introduces the
centrifugal outward force.
The main "problem" (or simply – the feature) of inertial forces is that they are not
interactive (no action-reaction pair of interaction). But is it possible that we simply
do not know the second partner?
Einstein revealed that inertial forces could be always interpreted as a certain
gravitational field. The latter is known as a regular interaction between bodies. This
idea develops Mach's hypothesis (principle)70 stating to the cause for inertial forces to
be interaction with the distant stars and galaxies, the interaction depending on the
relative acceleration between the masses. This consideration, however, presents an
open problem in physics for the complexity to evaluate the dynamic gravitational
interaction of this type.71 Meanwhile, one cannot be very certain in negating the noninteractive nature of the inertial forces.
Another difficulty for the learner appears in some advanced courses of mechanics,
stating that inertia increases with the speed of the body, being a relativistic effect.
The careful treatment, however, reveals the limits of this claim.72 Although energy
70
This idea comes back to the philosophizing of G. Berkeley (1726). The Principles of Human
Knowledge. §§111–117, 1710
71
Sciama, D. W. (1971). Modern Cosmology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
72
Okun, L. B. (1989), The Concept of Mass, Physics Today, 42 (6): 31–36.
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Excurse to the History of Inertial Force
and momentum do increase with velocity, the construct m=E/c2, in general case of
any velocity, does not present a relativistic quantity. It is only the rest mass, m=E0/c2,
which presents a relativistic scalar, that is, a fundamental invariant constant. The rest
mass (inertial mass) of a body does not change regardless the speed.
* * *
Pedagogical skills
Teaching about inertial forces requires from a teacher a special pedagogical skill. The
difficulty of the subject is not formal but rather due the conceptual complexity of
inertia, the concept of force, in general, and the inertial force, in particular.
Indeed, as mentioned, the concepts of inertia and the force of inertia possess
controversy. This means that the topic is difficult because it requires a dialectical
view.
This aspect touches on a more general requirement of teaching physics. At the
introductory level, physics requires presentation as a dialogue of ideas. At least, this
is a dialogue between the teacher and student (constructivism). In practice, however,
physics is rarely taught as such. Too often students' views are ignored and teaching
becomes a univocal indoctrination. Although this way might seem easier to perform
and assess, it does not adequately represent the subject matter. The topic of inertial
forces and inertia is inherently plural, both in addressing the concept, as well as in the
need of different types of observers. Presentation of this issue in class requires the
pedagogical skill of dialectic (many faceted) presentation.
The ability to teach by using dialectic approach is not genetic and can be
developed. The least confusing way to present the subject of the inertial forces is
seemingly displaying its historical evolution as was done in this excurse.
The
important feature of such pedagogy is presenting different views of scholars even if
some of them seem less justified or wrong. They together create a dialogue and invite
consideration, discussion, analysis, which lead to learning. These views expand the
subject and relate it to other topics. In short, this pedagogy creates Cultural Content
Knowledge. This way the teacher better matches the interest and skills of different
personalities among the students, as required in presenting physics in the modern
society.
* * *
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Excurse to the History of Inertial Force