Forces in Motion

YOU ARE LEARNING:

Newton's First Law

You will learn about Newton's First Law and how it applies in the real world, such as change in speed and direction.

A book is resting on a table. All of the forces acting on the book are balanced. The book will ...

The same book, which is resting on a table, is pushed with a force of $1\space N$ . The book ...

You have just applied Newton's first law of motion! When the resultant force acting on the book is zero, it remains stationary. When the book is pushed, the resultant force is greater than zero, and its velocity changes.

Which do you think best describes Newton's first law of motion?

According to Newton's first law, a resultant force is needed to produce a change of velocity. In which types of motion would a resultant force be present?

You can select multiple answers

When a skydiver first jumps, he experiences less air resistance than weight. According to Newton's first law, how would you describe the motion of the skydiver?

According to Newton's first law, a resultant force is needed to make a stationary object start moving, or a moving object stop moving.

Now, if you push a book across a table, it will eventually stop moving. This is because friction between the book and the table provides a resultant force that opposes the direction of movement.

When a parachutist first opens his parachute he begins to decelerate. Why is this?