Question

On what factor does the inertia of a body depend? Which has more inertia, a cricket ball or a rubber ball of the same size? When a tree is shaken, its fruits and leaves fall down. Why?

Answer 1

Inertia is defined as the ability or tendency of a body to resist any change in its current state of motion or of rest. Due to inertia, a body continues to exist in the same state unless an external force is applied to it. So, basically, Inertia depends upon the mass of the body. More the mass of the body more is the resistance to change the current state.

Out of cricket ball and rubber ball of the same size, the cricket ball has the more mass, so it has more inertia than the rubber ball.

When a tree is shaken, its fruits and leaves fall down. This is due to Inertia. When a tree at rest (at first) is shaken, the branches of the tree gains motion but the fruits and leaves tend to be in the state of rest due to the inertia of rest. Hence, they fall down.