Newton's First Law Flashcards

All 4 cards in this deck

State Newton's first law.

An object stays at rest, or keeps moving at constant velocity, unless a resultant force acts on it.

True or false? An object moving at a constant velocity must have a resultant force acting on it.

False. Constant velocity means the forces are balanced, so the resultant force is zero.

What happens to a body when the resultant force acting on it is not zero?

Its speed and/or its direction changes (it accelerates).

How do you find the resultant of two forces acting in opposite directions along the same line?

Subtract the smaller force from the larger one. The resultant acts in the direction of the larger force.