explain and describe Newton's 1st law and as it applies to forces, balanced forces and unbalanced forces
Newtons first law is something at motion will stay at motion unless a force acts on it, now an object at rest will stay at rest unless a force asks on it.
Newton's first law, also known as the law of inertia, states that an object at rest will stay at rest, and an object in motion will keep moving in a straight line at a constant velocity unless acted upon by an external force. This law essentially explains the concept of inertia.
In the context of forces, Newton's first law helps us understand balanced and unbalanced forces. A force is any push or pull that can cause an object to start moving, stop moving, or change its direction. When the forces acting upon an object are balanced, the object remains at rest or continues to move at a constant velocity. This happens because the individual forces cancel each other out, resulting in no net force being applied to the object.
For example, imagine a book resting on a table. The weight of the book is pulling it downwards, while the upward force exerted by the table (known as the normal force) is balancing the weight. The book stays at rest because the forces are balanced.
On the other hand, when the forces acting on an object are unbalanced, there is a resultant force causing the object to accelerate in the direction of the net force. This acceleration can either be a change in speed or direction, or both.
To understand this concept, let's consider a car accelerating on a road. The engine provides a driving force that propels the car forward, while the friction between the tires and the road opposes this motion. At low speeds, the driving force is greater than the frictional force, resulting in an unbalanced force forward, and the car accelerates. However, at higher speeds, the frictional force increases, eventually balancing out the driving force, causing the car to move at a constant velocity.
In summary, Newton's first law states that objects will remain at rest or continue to move in a straight line at a constant velocity unless acted upon by an external force. This law helps us understand the concepts of balanced forces (no net force) and unbalanced forces (a resultant force causing acceleration).