Newton’s First Law

Isaac Newton was one of the greatest physicist ever. He made numerous contributions to physics but his greatest ever will be his laws of motion. These laws are so fundamental that it wouldn’t be wrong to say that most if not all other laws in Classical Physics are derived or inspired from these fundamental laws. There are three laws basic laws which are known to us today as newton’s laws of motion. Today let us take a look at Newton’s First Law of Motion.

Newton’s first law of motion is the law of inertia. Well first let us understand inertia. By definition inertia is- “a property of matter by which it continues in its existing state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line”.Inertia in laymen’s language can be said to be the inherent property of objects to resist change in their physical state of being. Inertia is what makes you want to sleep longer or to sit on the couch after a heavy meal. I hope that you have now started to get a feel of inertia. But let me tell you that if you say that inertia is mass, then it would be incorrect as it is too extreme of a statement. Inertia is definitely heavily related to mass but inertia is not mass. In mathematical terms- Inertia is directly proportional to mass, but, inertia is not equal to mass.

Now that we have a feel of what inertia is let’s move on to our topic of interest- Newton’s First Law of Motion. Newton says that any object will continue to move in its initial direction until it is ‘forced to stop by an external force’. This applies for all similar situations- We don’t get out of bed until we force ourselves out of it, a bicycle does not change its direction on its own unless we force it the other way, clay does not change its own shape unless we mold it the way we want to and a rolling ball wouldn’t have stopped rolling if there were no friction. This is the true meaning of the first law of motion.

I sincerely hope that you truly understood and appreciated this fundamental law. Physics is truly amazing and the fact that its theories are built from something this basic makes it even more amazing. These laws apply everywhere in the universe, on Earth or on Mars these laws would never change. And yes following these laws is not optional, if one tries to break these then one would be successful in breaking his/her own neck but these laws would always stand strong. Thanks for reading.