Newtons first law

State Newtons first law of motion.

Galileo realized that the state of no motion and that of motion with a constant
speed are indistinguishable; since no force is present in the case of no motion, no
forces are required in the case of motion in a straight line with constant velocity.
Force is related to changes in velocity (i.e. accelerations).
An object remains at rest or in uniform motion unless acted upon by an external,
unbalanced force.
Also called the law of inertia, as it describes the reluctance of an object to change
its state of motion.

Describe examples of Newtons first law.

A body which moves with acceleration must have a force acting on it: a puck
sliding on ice has practically no friction and will therefore move with constant
velocity.
However, the earth rotates around the sun (v0), therefore a force must be acting
on the earth.
The driver of an accelerating car experiences a force from the back of her seat.
Relative to the ground, she is accelerating (but not relative to the car need inertial
reference frames).

Equilibrium
State the condition for translational equilibrium.
When the state of motion of an object remains unchanged even though two or
more forces are acting upon it, the object is said to be in equilibrium.
A
(A) Unstable equilibrium a small displacement leads to
an unbalanced force that further increases the
displacement from the equilibrium location
C
(B) Stable equilibrium a small displacement leads to an
unbalanced force that restores the body to the
equilibrium position
B
(C) Neutral equilibrium no unbalanced force results from
a slight displacement
From Newtons first law, the net force on an object must be zero in order that the
translational motion an object remain unchanged. (If we are dealing with an object
that can rotate, no twisting effects or torques act that would alter the rotational
state of motion.)

Solve problems involving translational equilibrium.

1. A traffic light is suspended by two cables at an angle of 30 to the horizontal
direction. How large is the tension in the cables if the weight of the traffic
light is w? (F = w)

2. What type of equilibrium is illustrated in question 1? Explain what will happen

if it is slightly displaced horizontally or vertically. (stable)