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 ▸

An electromagnetic wave has a wavelength of 3.0m and a speed of 3x10^8 m/s. State what type of radiation this wave is and calculate the period of the wave.


Resistors of 5 ohms and 10 ohms are connected in series with a battery supplying 3 volts. What is the total resistance ? And calculate the current in the circuit.


Describe the structure of an alpha particle


Does a negative acceleration always mean that the object is slowing down?