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NASA needs your smartphone during April's solar eclipse (www.popsci.com)

submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 7 months ago (5 children)

A rotating spheroid will oblate when its centrifugal force generates enough inertia to slightly flatten it out into a more irregular, elliptical shape.

I didn't know inertia could be generated. I thought mass just had inertia. Could someone explain? Are they talking out of their ass or is that statement actually accurate?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Inertia is the tendency of objects in motion to stay in motion, and objects at rest to stay at rest, unless a force causes its speed or direction to change. from Wikipedia

So they're kind of just saying that once it picks up enough rotational speed.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

Thank you! I appreciate it. I had a hunch they were sloppy with the term "inertia", and this confirms it for me, assuming I'm understanding it correctly.

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