Newton’s First Law of Motion - Physics

Aristotle on Motion

Stated that there were two types of motion: natural and violent motion.

Natural Motion

Motion that is straight up or straight down. States that objects would reach their “natural” resting place.

Copernicus and the Moving Earth

Stated that Earth, and the other planets, move around the sun.

Galileo on Motion

Discovered friction and inertia.

Friction

The force that acts between materials that touch as they move past each other. This is caused by irregularities in the surfaces of objects that are touching. Only when this is present is a force needed to keep an object moving.

Inertia

The property of an object to resist change to its state of motion.

Newton’s Law of Inertia

An object at rest, will stay at rest, and an object in motion, will stay in motion, unless acted on by an outside force.

Mass

The measure of the amount of material in an object.

The relationship between mass and inertia:

The more mass an object has, the greater it’s inertia and the more force it takes to change its state of motion.

Weight

A measure of the gravitational force acting on an object.

Violent Motion

Including imposed motion, this is a push or pull from an external cause.