Copyright © Michael Richmond.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Question 1:
The spaceship Enterprise coasts through space with constant velocity. Its engines are off.
Describe the total force on the ship.
Answer: The velocity is constant, so the ship experiences no acceleration.
So, by Newton's Second Law,
F = ma = 0 -> F = 0
Copyright © Michael Richmond.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.