According to Newton's first law of motion, what happens to an object at rest?

According to Newton's first law of motion, an object at rest will remain at rest until acted upon by an external force. This principle is fundamental to understanding motion and inertia. Essentially, it highlights that an object will not change its state of motion, whether in rest or uniform motion, unless a force is applied to it.

The concept of inertia, which is the tendency of objects to resist changes to their state of motion, is integral to this law. For example, a book sitting on a table will not move unless someone picks it up or pushes it. This characteristic of objects illustrates that they do not just spontaneously begin to move or change without influence from an external factor, reinforcing the predictability and consistency of physical laws.

Thus, this principle is crucial in various applications, from everyday life to complex engineering systems, where understanding forces and motion is essential in predicting how objects will behave.