Newton’s First Law of Motion, also known as the Law of Inertia, states that an object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless acted upon by an external force. This law explains the natural tendency of objects to resist changes in their state of motion. What is Newton’s first law of motion. Learn its definition, significance, and formula, along with everyday real-life examples, applications, and diagrams. Newton’s laws of motion are three statements describing the physical relations between the forces acting on a body and the motion of the body. Isaac Newton developed his three laws in order to explain why planetary orbits are ellipses rather than circles, but it turned out that he explained much more. The law of inertia is Newton’s first law, which states that “An object at rest will stay at rest, and an object in motion will stay in motion unless acted on by a net external force”.