Question

When a carpet is beaten with a stick, dust comes out from it. Explain.

Answer 1

Hint: According to Newton’s first law of motion, an object remains in the same state of motion (rest or constant velocity) until and unless an external unbalanced force acts on it. This property of a body to tend to remain in a constant state of motion is also known as its property of inertia. External unbalanced forces help to overcome the inertia of the object. If two objects stick together and a suitable large unbalanced force is exerted on one of them, they will separate as the other object stays in the same place due to its inertia while the former moves.

Complete step by step answer:
The inertia of a body is a property of a body that is the measure of the tendency of an object to be in the same state of motion (rest or constant velocity). The higher, the inertia of the body, higher is its tendency to remain in the same state. This is also elucidated in Newton’s first law of motion which states that an object remains in the same state of motion (rest or constant velocity) until and unless an external unbalanced force acts on it.

When we beat a carpet with a stick, a sudden unbalanced external force is applied on it and hence, it shifts from its position rapidly. The dust particles that were previously at rest on the carpet remain at rest due to their inertia and hence, get separated from the carpet.

This is why when a carpet is beaten with a stick, dust comes out from it.

Note: The inertia of a body is dependent on its mass. Greater the mass, greater is its inertia. Hence, it will be difficult to remove smaller dust particles than larger dirt from the carpet since the dust particles will have smaller inertia and move along with the carpet.
This is also the reason why washermen thrash clothes on the ground. The sudden impact with the ground provides a large external unbalanced force which helps to remove the dirt particles along with the soap from the cloth.