A book is at rest on a horizontal table. According to Newton's First Law, the net external force on the book is:
The NCERT text explains: 'We observe the book to be at rest. Therefore, we conclude from the first law that the magnitude of R equals that of W. A statement often encountered is : “Since W = R, forces cancel and, therefore, the book is at restâ€. This is incorrect reasoning. The correct statement is : “Since the book is observed to be at rest, the net external force on it must be zero, according to the first law.''