Is Inertia Caused by an Object's Mass and Gravitational Force?

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Inertia is not caused by an object's mass or its self-exerted gravitational force, as these internal forces do not influence the ease of movement. The term "inert" derives from Latin, meaning "no go," and is unrelated to the concept of mass. Inertia is fundamentally about the observation that objects remain at rest or in uniform motion unless acted upon by an external force. The origins of the concept of inertia predate scientific definitions of mass, highlighting its observational nature. The underlying reasons for inertia may remain unanswerable, emphasizing its status as a fundamental principle of physics.
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Is it because the mass of a given object exerts a gravitational force upon itself?
 
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davidbrown said:
Is it because the mass of a given object exerts a gravitational force upon itself?
Any force of an object on itself (like your left hand pushing on your right) has no effect on how easy it is to move the object.
 
Again, "inert" is Latin. It means "no go". There is no connection to the word "mas"
 
The concept of inertia existed as in 'things don't move unless something makes them move', before any scientific idea of mass.
That is a matter of observation of fact; 'why are things like that?' is probably not answerable.
 

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