114 CHAPTER 5 The Laws of Motion

5.2 NEWTON’S FIRST LAW AND INERTIAL FRAMES

Before we state Newton’s first law, consider the following simple experiment. Sup-
4.2 pose a book is lying on a table. Obviously, the book remains at rest. Now imagine
that you push the book with a horizontal force great enough to overcome the
force of friction between book and table. (This force you exert, the force of fric-
tion, and any other forces exerted on the book by other objects are referred to as
external forces.) You can keep the book in motion with constant velocity by applying
a force that is just equal in magnitude to the force of friction and acts in the oppo-
site direction. If you then push harder so that the magnitude of your applied force
exceeds the magnitude of the force of friction, the book accelerates. If you stop
pushing, the book stops after moving a short distance because the force of friction
retards its motion. Suppose you now push the book across a smooth, highly waxed
floor. The book again comes to rest after you stop pushing but not as quickly as be-
QuickLab fore. Now imagine a floor so highly polished that friction is absent; in this case, the
book, once set in motion, moves until it hits a wall.
Use a drinking straw to impart a Before about 1600, scientists felt that the natural state of matter was the state
strong, short-duration burst of air
against a tennis ball as it rolls along a
of rest. Galileo was the first to take a different approach to motion and the natural
tabletop. Make the force perpendicu- state of matter. He devised thought experiments, such as the one we just discussed
lar to the ball’s path. What happens for a book on a frictionless surface, and concluded that it is not the nature of an
to the ball’s motion? What is different object to stop once set in motion: rather, it is its nature to resist changes in its motion.
if you apply a continuous force (con- In his words, “Any velocity once imparted to a moving body will be rigidly main-
stant magnitude and direction) that
is directed along the direction of mo-
tained as long as the external causes of retardation are removed.”
tion? This new approach to motion was later formalized by Newton in a form that
has come to be known as Newton’s first law of motion:

In the absence of external forces, an object at rest remains at rest and an object
Newton’s first law in motion continues in motion with a constant velocity (that is, with a constant
speed in a straight line).

In simpler terms, we can say that when no force acts on an object, the accelera-
tion of the object is zero. If nothing acts to change the object’s motion, then its
velocity does not change. From the first law, we conclude that any isolated object
(one that does not interact with its environment) is either at rest or moving with
constant velocity. The tendency of an object to resist any attempt to change its ve-
Definition of inertia locity is called the inertia of the object. Figure 5.3 shows one dramatic example of
a consequence of Newton’s first law.
Another example of uniform (constant-velocity) motion on a nearly frictionless
surface is the motion of a light disk on a film of air (the lubricant), as shown in Fig-
ure 5.4. If the disk is given an initial velocity, it coasts a great distance before stopping.
Finally, consider a spaceship traveling in space and far removed from any plan-
ets or other matter. The spaceship requires some propulsion system to change its
velocity. However, if the propulsion system is turned off when the spaceship
reaches a velocity v, the ship coasts at that constant velocity and the astronauts get
a free ride (that is, no propulsion system is required to keep them moving at the
velocity v).

Inertial Frames
As we saw in Section 4.6, a moving object can be observed from any number of ref-
erence frames. Newton’s first law, sometimes called the law of inertia, defines a spe-
Definition of inertial frame cial set of reference frames called inertial frames. An inertial frame of reference
 5.2 Newton’s First Law and Inertial Frames 115

Figure 5.3 Unless a net ex-

ternal force acts on it, an ob-
ject at rest remains at rest and
an object in motion continues
in motion with constant veloc-
ity. In this case, the wall of the
building did not exert a force
on the moving train that was
large enough to stop it.

Isaac Newton English physicist

and mathematician (1642 – 1727)
Isaac Newton was one of the most
brilliant scientists in history. Before
the age of 30, he formulated the basic
concepts and laws of mechanics, dis-
covered the law of universal gravita-
tion, and invented the mathematical
methods of calculus. As a conse-
quence of his theories, Newton was
able to explain the motions of the
planets, the ebb and flow of the tides,
and many special features of the mo-
tions of the Moon and the Earth. He
also interpreted many fundamental
observations concerning the nature
of light. His contributions to physical
is one that is not accelerating. Because Newton’s first law deals only with objects theories dominated scientific thought
for two centuries and remain impor-
that are not accelerating, it holds only in inertial frames. Any reference frame that tant today. (Giraudon/Art Resource)
moves with constant velocity relative to an inertial frame is itself an inertial frame.
(The Galilean transformations given by Equations 4.20 and 4.21 relate positions
and velocities between two inertial frames.)
A reference frame that moves with constant velocity relative to the distant stars
is the best approximation of an inertial frame, and for our purposes we can con-
sider planet Earth as being such a frame. The Earth is not really an inertial frame
because of its orbital motion around the Sun and its rotational motion about its
own axis. As the Earth travels in its nearly circular orbit around the Sun, it experi-
ences an acceleration of about 4.4 ⫻ 10⫺3 m/s2 directed toward the Sun. In addi-
tion, because the Earth rotates about its own axis once every 24 h, a point on the
equator experiences an additional acceleration of 3.37 ⫻ 10⫺2 m/s2 directed to-
ward the center of the Earth. However, these accelerations are small compared
with g and can often be neglected. For this reason, we assume that the Earth is an
inertial frame, as is any other frame attached to it. v = constant
If an object is moving with constant velocity, an observer in one inertial frame
(say, one at rest relative to the object) claims that the acceleration of the object
and the resultant force acting on it are zero. An observer in any other inertial frame Air flow
also finds that a ⫽ 0 and ⌺F ⫽ 0 for the object. According to the first law, a body
at rest and one moving with constant velocity are equivalent. A passenger in a car
moving along a straight road at a constant speed of 100 km/h can easily pour cof-
Electric blower
fee into a cup. But if the driver steps on the gas or brake pedal or turns the steer-
ing wheel while the coffee is being poured, the car accelerates and it is no longer Figure 5.4 Air hockey takes ad-
an inertial frame. The laws of motion do not work as expected, and the coffee vantage of Newton’s first law to
ends up in the passenger’s lap! make the game more exciting.