So, which definition brings a picture to your mind?
All of a sudden, inertia is useful in the high school physics classroom! It is now obvious that the inertial balance measures inertia because the balance shakes things rapidly back and forth, over and over again. But wait, it gets better! There's the surprising observation that things that cause the inertial balance to slow down the most also cause a hanging spring to stretch the most when they are suspended from it. Student: That is not surprising, Ms. G. Things that go slower in the inertial balance are heavier, so of course the spring stretches more. Ms. G: Okay, so how come heavier things are harder to shake back and forth? Student: Because they're heavier! Ms. G: Yes, but being heavy means it's difficult to pick something up off the floor. How come it is also difficult to shake the thing back and forth while it's still on the floor? Student: Because that's part of being heavy! Ms. G: Ding! I couldn't have said it better myself! That's what's surprising here: How come being difficult to shake back and forth is part of being heavy? And while the students are busy taking all of those measurements, I get to thinking how strange it is that the gravitational interaction arises from this property of being difficult to shake back and forth. Does this mean that being difficult to shake back and forth gives you the ability to bend spacetime?
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