First Law Of Motion for Dummies

First Law of Motion refers to the fundamental concept in physics that describes the behavior of objects when no external forces are acting upon them. In simpler terms, it is all about what happens to an object when nothing is pushing or pulling on it.

Let's imagine you are sitting on a skateboard in the middle of a flat, smooth surface with no one around. You are completely still, just sitting there, doing nothing. According to the First Law of Motion, also commonly known as the law of inertia, you will continue to stay still and not move in any direction unless something or someone comes and applies a force on you.

The First Law of Motion tells us that objects naturally resist changes in their state of motion. This means that if you were already moving on the skateboard at a constant speed, you would keep moving in a straight line at that same speed until something else happens. If someone comes and pushes you in a certain direction, you will start moving in that direction, but if no force is applied to you, you will simply remain still or continue moving in the same direction and speed as before.

To further illustrate this concept, think about a soccer ball lying on the grass. It stays still until someone kicks it, right? That was because an external force (the kick) was applied to the ball, causing it to move. But if nobody kicks the ball, it will simply sit there, unmoving.

Summing it up, the First Law of Motion tells us that objects at rest tend to stay at rest, and objects in motion tend to keep moving in a straight line at a constant speed, unless acted upon by an external force. This law helps us understand how objects behave in the absence of any forces acting on them, and it forms the foundation for many other laws and principles in physics.