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Physics · Paper 2 · Higher Tier only · P5

Higher: inertia and circular motion

Key ideas1 of 3

Resistance to a change in velocity

Inertia is the tendency to continue at rest or at constant velocity when the resultant force is zero. Inertial mass measures how difficult it is to change an object’s velocity. For the same resultant force, an object with a greater mass has a smaller acceleration.

The same 6 newton resultant force accelerates a 2 kilogram mass at 3 metres per second squared and a 6 kilogram mass at 1 metre per second squared.

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Daily 5 · Exam practice · Revision sheet ↓

Higher Tier only · P5. Twenty core lessons, followed by five labelled Higher Tier lessons.

AQA Combined Science Trilogy 8464 · 6.5.4.1.3 · 6.5.4.2.1–2. Original notes, questions and diagrams. Models are simplified; teaching data are illustrative.