Which scenario best demonstrates the first law of motion as stated by Newton regarding an object’s tendency to maintain its state of at rest or uniform motion?
A book lying on a table stays still until someone pushes it
Newton's first law of motion (the law of inertia) says that an object at rest stays at rest, and an object in uniform motion in a straight line stays in that motion, unless an external unbalanced force acts on it. So the best illustration is a situation where an object stays exactly as it is until something else pushes it.
A book lying on a table remains still because no unbalanced external force acts on it; only when someone pushes it does its state of motion change. A tree swaying in the wind, a ball accelerating downhill and a car speeding up under the accelerator all involve a net external force acting on the object, so they are examples of the second law (change of motion under a force), not the first.
Hence, the answer is A book lying on a table stays still until someone pushes it.
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