Newton's first law of motion
- noun
- /ˈnjuːtənz fɜrst lɔː ʌv ˈmoʊʃən/
- Specialized
:
primera ley de movimiento de Newton
- To understand Newton's first law of motion, realize that a ball will not move unless someone kicks it.
Examples
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So what we have is a particle with a huge (sufficiently large) mass moving with uniform speed in a straight line that experiences a net finite non-zero force, which is directly contradictory to Newton's first law of motion. Therefore, we see that Newtonian mechanics is self-contradictory.
Blog text (20) -
Here, Lonergan was drawing an analogy between the task of social theory and Newton's first law of motion.
Academic text (2006) -
The third is Newton's first law of motion: every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it.
Academic text (2012) -
According to Newton's first law of motion, an object at rest will remain at rest unless acted upon by an external force.
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An example of Newton's first law of motion is a hockey puck sliding on ice, which continues to move in a straight line until friction slows it down.
Synonyms
1
4.1
An object stays still or keeps moving at the same speed and direction unless a force acts on it
1
4.1
An object stays still or keeps moving at the same speed and direction unless a force acts on it
Surface Forms
Morphology
Newton's + first + law + of + motion
The phrase transparently indicates a named scientific rule — combining 'first', 'law' and 'motion' makes clear it is the first law concerning motion attributed to Newton, so learners can infer it relates to rules about motion. However, the specific content of the law (that objects remain at rest or in uniform motion unless acted on by an external force) is encyclopedic and cannot be deduced from the constituents alone, so full understanding requires prior subject knowledge.
Etymology
Newton's first law of motion comes from Sir Isaac Newton, who showed that things keep doing what they are doing unless something pushes or pulls them. Picture a ball on very smooth ice: it will roll on and on until something stops it. So the law means 'an object stays at rest or keeps moving in a straight line unless something pushes or pulls it'.