What does Newton's First Law mean?

Newton's First Law states that an object will continue moving at the same velocity in the same direction unless a resultant force acts upon it. This applies to stationary objects too - if an object is still and no resultant force is exerted on it, it will remain still. A resultant force is the force left over when all the forces and their directions are taken into account, e.g. on a ball moving through air, there is a drag force and gravitational force acting on it - the ball continues to move down because the gravitational force is greater than the drag force. This tendency of objects to stay in their steady state is called inertia.

AH
Answered by Annie H. Physics tutor

2449 Views

See similar Physics GCSE tutors

Related Physics GCSE answers

All answers ▸

What are the changes in energy that an object experiences when it is launched vertically at a given velocity into the air and falls back to the ground? This question ignores air resistance.


What is cosmic microwave background, and where does it come from?


Explain Newton's laws of motion


A cup of boiling water (100 degrees C) (0.2kg) transfers 20 000J of heat to its surrounding in 1 hour. What temperature is the water in the kettle after 1 hour?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2025 by IXL Learning