Newton's First Law

Where I grew up there was a long road that had the perfect slope and road conditions, such that if I went down with my bicycle at a certain velocity and avoided all bumps, then I was able to coast down the road without slowing down or speeding up.

It was such a fun feeling being in such perfect equilibrium....

Later in life, I was fortunate enough to be able to understand on an analytical level the intricate balance of the forces acting on the bike and me to keep us in the same state of motion... each force having the potential to change the state of motion, but somehow the combination of forces balancing out to have no net effect -- as if no forces acted in the first place...

And being able to think this way, and

to see the possibilities of that way of thinking,

was also a fun feeling in a different way...

After this lesson, you should be able to:

• Define Inertia.
• Define "Net Force".
• State Newton's First Law of Motion.
• Recognize when objects are in equilibrium.

I hope you will have fun as you learn about Newton's First Law of Motion.