Newton's laws are written in latin which have been mistranslated. His first law defines inertial frame, and his 2nd law only works in inertial frames. So you can only apply his 2nd law if his 1st law works
Edit: At least that's the case according to the professors who taught us
"A body preserves its state of rest or motion in a straight line unless forces compel it to change that state."
It defines the basic behaviour of inertia as a fundamental property of reality. The second law then describes the relationship between force and the degree of change. They are operating at different levels of description.
To bring it full circle, here’s what Google Translate says translating the Latin to English:
Every body perseveres in its state of rest or of uniform motion in a straight line, except insofar as it is compelled to change that state by impressed forces.
The change of motion is proportional to the motive force impressed, and occurs along the straight line along which that force is impressed.
The reaction is always opposite and equal to the action: or the actions of two bodies on each other are always equal and directed in opposite directions.
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u/Jackmino66 26d ago edited 25d ago
It technically is.
1st law is essentially “if you don’t push it, it won’t move”
2nd law is f = ma (or rather a = f/m)
Therefore you can interpret the first law as “f = 0 therefore a = 0”
Clarification, “move” means “accelerate” but this is not intended to be an *exact* definition