In any case, anyone who has ever driven a car knows that when the car is motionless, it is MUCH more difficult to turn the steering wheel.

Marco, we have had some useful discussions, but this isn't one of them. Turning the steering wheel, in a car without power steering, is harder when the car is stationary. The car's inertia wrt changing direction or speed of travel, while in motion, or not, is an entirely different matter. By the way, Honda Pilots have power steering as standard equipment. With power steering, it's easy to turn the wheel at any speed, including zero.

Steve...took both high school and college level physics.

from the net sifter:

Linear kinetic energy (\(K=\frac{1}{2}mv^{2}\)) relates to inertia (mass, \(m\)) as a measure of motion resistance, but inertia's most direct parallel is rotational inertia (moment of inertia, \(I\)), where \(I\) replaces mass (\(m\)) in the kinetic energy formula (\(K_{rot}=\frac{1}{2}I\omega ^{2}\)), showing that rotational kinetic energy also depends on mass distribution (\(I=\sum mr^{2}\)) and angular velocity (\(\omega \)), not just total mass. Essentially, both linear and rotational kinetic energy show how an object's mass (or mass distribution) resists changes in motion (velocity vs. angular velocity).

Key Relationships 

Linear Inertia (Mass, \(m\)): The resistance of an object to changes in its linear velocity (speeding up/slowing down).

Linear Kinetic Energy (\(K_{trans}\)): \(K_{trans}=\frac{1}{2}mv^{2}\), where \(m\) is mass and \(v\) is linear velocity.

Rotational Inertia (Moment of Inertia, \(I\)): The resistance of an object to changes in its angular velocity (spinning faster/slower). It depends on total mass and how that mass is spread out from the axis of rotation (\(I=\sum mr^{2}\)).

Rotational Kinetic Energy (\(K_{rot}\)): \(K_{rot}=\frac{1}{2}I\omega ^{2}\), where \(I\) is rotational inertia and \(\omega \) is angular velocity. 

How They Connect 

Analogy: \(I\) (rotational inertia) is the rotational equivalent of \(m\) (linear inertia).

Calculation: Rotational kinetic energy is derived by summing the kinetic energy (\(1/2mv^{2}\)) of all tiny mass elements (\(dm\)) in a rotating object, substituting \(v=r\omega \), and recognizing that \(\sum mr^{2}\) equals \(I\).

Example: A hollow cylinder (high \(I\) for its mass) spins slower than a solid cylinder (low \(I\) for its mass) at the same energy level, demonstrating how mass distribution (inertia) affects motion. 

In short, linear kinetic energy uses mass as the inertia factor, while rotational kinetic energy uses moment of inertia, which incorporates mass and its radial distribution relative to the axis of rotation