Inertial Space

In physics, the expression inertial space refers to the background reference that is provided by the phenomenon of inertia.

Inertia is opposition to change of velocity, that is: change of velocity with respect to the background, the background that all physical objects are embedded in. Accelerometers measure how hard an object is accelerating with respect to inertial space. More precisely, accelerometers measure the magnitude of the change of velocity with respect to inertial space.

The inertial guidance systems that are used in navigation and in guidance of missiles work by detecting acceleration and rotation with respect to inertial space.

Read more about Inertial Space:  Derivatives With Respect To Time, Gyroscopes, Astronomy, Applications in Navigation

Famous quotes containing the word space:

    When my body leaves me
    I’m lonesome for it.
    but body
    goes away to I don’t know where
    and it’s lonesome to drift
    above the space it
    fills when it’s here.
    Denise Levertov (b. 1923)