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What makes skating so fun and interesting is that your skates free you from the
constraints of friction. So that you can enjoy the simple pleasure of inertia. When
you're experiencing no external forces or, more generally, when the net force acting
on you is zero, you move according to Newton's first law, and travel at constant
velocity. If you're motionless, you remain motionless. That's a velocity of zero
staying zero. If you're moving, you move in the same direction at the same speed.
That's your velocity remaining constant and you're coasting. On the other hand, if
you are experiencing a net force, other than zero, you move according to Newton's
second law of motion, you accelerate, and your acceleration is equal to the net
force acting on you, divided by your mass. Moreover that acceleration is in the same
direction, as the net force. Well that's it for skating, glide away and I will see
you next time for more of how things work.