A stressed out mom just purchased a cup of Starbucks coffee. The bus she is riding on to work goes around a sharp curve. Even though she holds the cup still, the coffee still splashed out. Which word explains this phenomenon?
The word that explains this phenomenon is "inertia." Inertia is the tendency of an object to resist a change in its motion or remain at rest. In this case, the coffee inside the cup wants to maintain its state of motion as the bus goes around the curve, causing it to splash out even though the mom may be holding the cup still.
The word that explains this phenomenon is "inertia."
The word that explains this phenomenon is "inertia."
Inertia is a property of matter that refers to its tendency to resist changes in motion or to remain at rest if it is already at rest. In this case, when the bus goes around a sharp curve, it undergoes a change in motion, which can be considered as an acceleration. The coffee inside the cup, being a liquid, also possesses inertia.
When the bus suddenly changes its direction, the coffee inside the cup wants to keep moving in a straight line due to its inertia. As a result, it sloshes around inside the cup and can sometimes splash out, even if the cup is held still. The inertia of the coffee causes it to have momentum, and when the bus changes direction quickly, the coffee's momentum can make it spill out of the cup.
So, in this situation, the coffee splashing out of the cup is due to the inertia of the liquid resisting the change in motion caused by the bus going around a sharp curve.