What is the term for the property of matter that resists changes in its state of rest or uniform motion?

What is the term for the property of matter that resists changes in its state of rest or uniform motion?

• A. Inertia
• B. Mass
• C. Force
• D. Momentum

Answer: (A)

The term for the property of matter that resists changes in its state of rest or uniform motion is inertia. Inertia is a fundamental concept in physics, stemming from Newton's First Law of Motion, which states that an object at rest will remain at rest, and an object in motion will remain in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by a net external force. This resistance to change is directly proportional to the mass of the object; more massive objects have greater inertia and require more force to alter their state of motion. The other terms listed have different meanings: mass refers specifically to the amount of matter in an object and is a measure of its inertia, but it is not the property itself. Force is an interaction that causes changes in an object's motion, while momentum is a quantity defined as the product of an object's mass and its velocity, describing how much motion an object has rather than its resistance to changing that motion.

The term for the property of matter that resists changes in its state of rest or uniform motion is inertia. Inertia is a fundamental concept in physics, stemming from Newton's First Law of Motion, which states that an object at rest will remain at rest, and an object in motion will remain in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by a net external force. This resistance to change is directly proportional to the mass of the object; more massive objects have greater inertia and require more force to alter their state of motion.

The other terms listed have different meanings: mass refers specifically to the amount of matter in an object and is a measure of its inertia, but it is not the property itself. Force is an interaction that causes changes in an object's motion, while momentum is a quantity defined as the product of an object's mass and its velocity, describing how much motion an object has rather than its resistance to changing that motion.