A figure skater is on an imaginary frictionless rink of ice. If she pushes off the wall at one end of the rink, and then does not move her body, what will happen to her if there are no other acting external forces?
If there are no other external forces acting on the figure skater after she pushes off the wall, she will continue to move forward with the same speed and direction. According to Newton's first law of motion, also known as the law of inertia, an object in motion will stay in motion with the same velocity unless acted upon by an external force. Since there are no other forces acting on her, she will maintain her initial momentum and continue moving forward on the imaginary frictionless rink.
