Newton's first law
1
4.1
- noun
- /ˈnjuːtənz fɜrst lɔː/
- Specialized
:
primera ley de Newton
- According to Newton's first law, an object in motion will continue moving in a straight line at a constant speed unless a force is applied.
- Newton's first law of motion
Examples
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Newton's first law of motion.
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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) -
Newton's first law: a body in motion tends to remain in motion and a body at rest tends to remain at rest.
Fiction book (1992) -
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) -
Newton's first law states that an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by an external force.
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An example of Newton's first law is a spacecraft in space that continues to drift without changing speed or direction until a force acts on it.
Synonyms
12
6.4
The way an object stays still or keeps moving unless something pushes it
1
4.1
An object stays still or keeps moving at the same speed and direction unless a force acts on it
An object stays still or keeps moving in the same straight line unless a force acts on it
Surface Forms
Morphology
The components 'first' and 'law' transparently signal that this is Newton's primary scientific rule (an ordered, named law), so learners can infer it refers to a rule by Newton rather than a literal meaning of the words. However, the precise content (the inertia principle: objects remain at rest or in uniform motion unless acted on) cannot be derived from the constituents alone and requires prior scientific knowledge, making it only partially transparent.
Etymology
Newton's first law is named after Isaac Newton and paints a simple picture: imagine a ball that will 'keep moving' on a smooth floor until something stops it. It says objects will 'stay still' or 'keep moving' unless an outside force, like a push or friction, acts, so the law explains why things do not change their motion by themselves.