Newtons First Law of Motion
Most recent answer: 10/22/2007
Q:
I need an example of one of Newtons Laws of Motion.
- london (age 11)
victoria,tx,usa
- london (age 11)
victoria,tx,usa
A:
Newtons First Law of Motion says that an object will remain in its
state of motion unless acted upon by a force. This means that a body
not under the influence of ANY forces will either be traveling with a
constant straight-line velocity relative to an observer or will be at
rest (not moving) with respect to that observer. If a force acts upon
the object, there will be a change in velocity (both speed and/or
direction of movement), which is also known as acceleration. For
example, the reason a car slows down after you take your foot off the
gas pedal is because a force, specifically friction, is changing its
speed. The reason the moon travels in a circular orbit around the earth
is because a force, this time gravity, is continually changing the
direction of its motion around the earth from a straight line to
approximately circular. But in the absence of forces, an object will
continue in its state of motion without changing.
(published on 10/22/2007)