In the context of Newton's First & Second Laws, what is another name for Newton's first law of motion?

• A. The law of inertia
• B. The law of universal gravitation
• C. The law of conservation of momentum
• D. The law of action and reaction

Answer: (A)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Recall Newton's First Law of Motion, which states that an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion continues in motion with the same speed and direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced external force.
2. Understand that this law describes the tendency of objects to resist changes in their state of motion.
3. Recognize that this property of objects resisting changes in motion is called 'inertia'.
4. Therefore, Newton's First Law is also commonly known as the 'Law of Inertia'.
5. Compare this with other laws listed: the law of universal gravitation relates to gravitational force, the law of conservation of momentum deals with momentum in closed systems, and the law of action and reaction is Newton's Third Law.