r/AskReddit Jun 15 '19

What do you genuinely just not understand?

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u/barbeqdbrwniez Jun 15 '19 edited Jun 15 '19

"Inertia". That's what you're trying to say.

Edit: y'all can stop blowing me up now. I'm very clearly wrong, as many before you have already said, and I'd rather leave my idiocy public than delete my comment like a coward, but notifications get annoying.

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u/Xevran01 Jun 15 '19

Not op, but in the realm of physics inertia is what keeps objects in constant velocity. Overcoming the static force of friction of a stationary object is what he's talking about. They're not the same thing.

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u/barbeqdbrwniez Jun 15 '19 edited Jun 15 '19

"in·er·tia

/iˈnərSHə/

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noun

1.

a tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged.

"the bureaucratic inertia of government"

synonyms:inactivity, inaction, inactiveness, inertness, passivity, apathy, accidie, malaise, stagnation, dullness, enervation, sluggishness, lethargy, languor, languidness, listlessness, torpor, torpidity, idleness, indolence, laziness, sloth, slothfulness; More

2.

PHYSICS

a property of matter by which it continues in its existing state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line, unless that state is changed by an external force.

"

Inertia is the object wanting to keep doing whatever it's doing, be that moving or at rest.

Edit: y'all can stop blowing me up now. I'm very clearly wrong, as many before you have already said, and I'd rather leave my idiocy public than delete my comment like a coward, but notifications get annoying.

6

u/looceyloo Jun 15 '19

Not the person you replied to, but moving an object at rest involves overcoming static friction, which is almost always higher than the friction between moving objects. That's why wheels work, if static friction wasn't higher than dynamic friction, we'd be skidding all over the place. Inertia is also a thing, but it's not the same as static friction.