Final answer:
The ability to make a turn in a gravity-free environment is the same for a person with a lot of inertia and a person with a small amount of inertia. The amount of force required for a turn is independent of the person's mass in such an environment.
Step-by-step explanation:
In a gravity-free environment, the ability for a person with a lot of inertia to make a turn is the same as a person with a smaller amount of inertia. This is because inertia is an object's resistance to changes in its state of motion or rest. The moment that a person starts making a turn, they are applying a force to change their direction, which must overcome their inertia. However, in a gravity-free environment, such as space, the amount of force required doesn't depend on the person's mass since there's no gravitational pull contributing to the weight that would normally require more force to move a heavier person as compared to a lighter one.
The answer to the student's question is therefore: a. True.
Feedback on the true or false statement provided in the reference is as follows: An external force is indeed required to set a stationary object in motion in outer space away from all gravitational influences and atmospheric friction, making answer a. True. This corresponds with Newton's First Law of Motion, which includes the concept of inertia. Regarding walking on the ground, the statement that a person accelerates by exerting a force on the ground, which in turn exerts an equal and opposite force on the person is also true, illustrating Newton's Third Law of Motion. Lastly, according to Galileo's experiments, inertia is identical to gravitational mass, which allows us to predict that objects fall at the same acceleration due to gravity regardless of their mass when other forces like wind resistance are not at play.