Understanding Newton's First Law of Motion

Newton's First Law of Motion is also known as the law of inertia.

This law says:

• An object at rest will stay at rest.
• An object in motion will keep moving.

But this only happens if no outside force makes it change.

Let’s break this down by looking at a simple example, like a ball that's dropped.

1. When the Ball is Still:

   • When someone is holding the ball, it isn’t moving.
   • According to Newton’s First Law, it will stay still until a force makes it move.
   • In this case, that force is the person letting go of the ball.

2. The Ball Falls:

   • Once the ball is released, it starts to fall.
   • The only major force acting on it now is gravity. Gravity pulls the ball down toward the Earth.
   • So, the ball speeds up as it falls.
   • It won’t stop or change direction unless something hits it, like the ground.

3. Falling Faster:

   • While it’s falling, the ball is getting faster all the time.
   • Near the Earth's surface, this speed increases at about 9.81 meters per second every second.
   • This steady increase in speed happens because of the pull of gravity.

4. Air Resistance:

   • In real life, there’s also air pushing against the ball.
   • If we ignore air resistance, the ball will keep speeding up until it hits the ground.
   • But when we think about air resistance, it works against gravity.
   • Eventually, the ball reaches a point where it falls at a steady speed. This steady speed is called terminal velocity.

In Short: Newton's First Law helps us understand how falling objects work. It shows the important connection between forces, movement, and inertia.