Question

Explain the terms inertial frame of reference and noninertial frame of reference .

Answer 1

If a person measures the speed of two buses with respect to ground then the ground is a inertial frame.

when a person on a bus measures the speed of another bus with respect to the first bus then the first bus is a non inertial frame

Answer 2

Lesson Transcript

Instructor: Damien Howard

Damien has a master's degree in physics and has taught physics lab to college students.

Learn how to tell the difference between an inertial frame of reference and a non-inertial frame of reference. Then find out what these frames of reference have to do with Newton's first law and fictional forces.

Inertial Frame of Reference

At some point in your life, you've probably been on a form of public transportation. It might have been a bus, metro, train, plane, or even something else. Often we share these rides with other people. From your point of view in the vehicle, these people are sitting or standing still. However, to a bystander standing still outside the vehicle, you and your fellow passengers are moving at a faster velocity. We can call these two points of view two different frames of reference. In physics, we can classify frames of reference by two main types: inertial and non-inertial.

Inertia is the property of matter in which an object that is at rest wants to remain at rest, and an object that is moving wants to remain moving in a straight line unless another force acts upon it. Likewise, aninertial frame of reference is a reference frame in which an object stays either at rest or at a constant velocity unless another force acts upon it. When a body does not seem to be acting in accordance with inertia, it is in a non-inertial frame of reference or accelerating.