Answer:
Step-by-step explanation:
The term that explains why a book in the seat of a car slides forward when the car slams on the brakes is inertia.
Inertia is the tendency of an object to resist changes in its state of motion. According to Newton's First Law of Motion, an object at rest will stay at rest, and an object in motion will continue moving at a constant speed in a straight line, unless acted upon by an external force.
In the scenario described, when the car slams on the brakes, the car experiences a sudden deceleration or change in motion. However, due to the inertia of the book, it wants to continue moving forward at the same speed as the car before the brakes were applied.
As a result, the book continues to move forward while the car slows down, causing it to slide forward on the seat. This is because there is no force acting specifically on the book to stop its forward motion. The seatbelt or other frictional forces may eventually bring the book to a stop, but initially, the book continues moving forward due to its inertia.
The same principle of inertia explains why passengers in a car also tend to move forward when the car suddenly stops. Without the use of seatbelts or other restraining mechanisms, their bodies continue to move forward in accordance with Newton's First Law until acted upon by an external force, such as the seatbelt or the dashboard.