inertial force
Also found in: Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
Related to inertial force: inertia force
inertial force
n.
An apparent force, proportional to a body's mass, that appears to affect the body within a noninertial frame but is absent from the point of view of an inertial frame. Centrifugal forces and Coriolis forces are inertial forces.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
inertial force
n
(General Physics) an imaginary force which an accelerated observer postulates so that he can use the equations appropriate to an inertial observer. See also Coriolis force
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014