Inertia negation

Inertia negation is a theoretical process causing physical objects with mass to act as if they were of lower mass or were massless. The effect is the opposite of adding ballast, and does not exist in the real world. There is currently no known material or technology that is able to eliminate or negate The Effects of inertia that all known types of mass possess.

According to Newton's first law, "an object in motion tends to stay in motion, and an object at rest tends to stay at rest." Inertia is the resistance against changes in the motion of an object. Objects within objects each possess their own inertia, and will collide with each other when the containing object is moved.

A device that would be capable of inertia negation is described as being capable of reducing the inertia of both the larger containing object, and of all contained objects within, so as to make changes in motion easier, and to reduce or PReVENT damage due to internal collisions. The inertia is not absorbed or redirected but simply ceases to have a physical effect.

The results of using such a device may have significant unforeseeable consequences. If the device completely negates motion in space, the affected object or area would appear to move very fast to outside observers. This is in part because of Earth's rotation and its ORBit around the sun, the rotation and velocity of the galaxy or an unmeasurable movement of the entire universe. In addition, it is impossible to determine how the object or area would be affected, if at all, by time dilation.

Antimatter, while being the opposite of matter, would still have inertia with the forces oriented in the same direction as normal matter. Storing antimatter on-board a vehicle made of matter would not counter the inertial effects of the mass that constitutes the vehicle.

Inertia negation in fiction

Inertia negation is a commonplace technology in the fictional Star Trek universe, but are incorrectly described as inertia dampers, which are a real device but have a completely different purpose. Inertia negation is used to counter the effects of sudden acceleration that would impart structural stresses on star ships when suddenly accelerating to or decelerating at superluminal speeds, and which would cause passengers to be thrown against walls and crushed by the inertial effects of the vehicle suddenly accelerating or slowing. Contrary to popular belief, this device would not be necessary at WarP speed. Warp drive involves the manipulation of spacetime for Faster-Than-Light travel does not require the actual starship to physically accelerate or decelerate.

Inertial dampers also appeared in later episodes of Stargate SG-1, more properly relegated to reducing the effect of high-g maneuvers at subluminal velocities.

See also

  • Acceleration
  • Antimatter
  • Force
  • Gravity
  • Inertia
  • Mass
  • Matter
  • Isaac Newton
  • Newton's first law
  • Physics
  • Weight