(E)
Wrong. An object released from rest near the surface of the earth will
accelerate downward at 1 g acceleration. In order to obtain an inertial
frame near the surface of the earth, you would have to allow the frame
of reference to fall freely with the object released. For example, if you
dropped a spaceship from a tall tower, the law of inertia would apply locally
to it just like it does to a spaceship orbiting the earth. Of course, the
spaceship falling from the tower would not remain an inertial frame very
long - only until it hit the ground.
If you assume that gravity is a real force (like electromagnetism), then
you could conclude that the reason objects accelerate when dropped near
the surface of the earth is that they are experiencing an unbalanced force
(the force of gravity). If that force is balanced (by applying an equal
and opposite force to the object), then the law of inertia would apply
and the earth frame could be considered inertial. For example, suppose
a puck is released at rest on a perfectly horizontal air table at the surface
of the earth. The puck would remain at rest for a long time and the earth
frame would appear to be inertial. Technically, of course, the earth is
not really an inertial frame because it is rotating about its axis, revolving
about the sun, and in orbit around the galaxy. But the non-inertial accelerations
due to these motions are quite small compared to the other accelerations
encountered in everyday life. Therefore, most people while growing up have
developed the intuitive notion that the surface of the earth is an inertial
frame of reference.