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

Related Physics GCSE answers

All answers ▸

How might an uncharged object become positively charged? (e.g. AQA Higher specimen paper 1)


A force of 13.8 N was used to lift a mass 30 cm vertically through a liquid. Calculate the work done in lifting the mass, stating the correct units.


What is a chain reaction?


What's the difference between weight and mass and how do I find one from the other?