Question

after a frisbee has been thrown and is no longer touching the players hand, the frisbee keeps going forward. why does the frisbee keep going forward?

inertia (which is a force).

inertia (which is not a force).

wind pushes it forward.

the force of the throw is still at play.

Explanation:

According to Newton's first law of motion, an object in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by an external force. Inertia is the property of an object to resist changes in its state of motion. It is not a force itself. When the frisbee is thrown, it has a certain velocity. After leaving the player's hand, there is no force from the throw acting on it anymore. However, due to its inertia (the tendency to keep moving as it was), it continues to move forward. Wind pushing it forward is an external force that could affect its motion, but the main reason it keeps going forward after leaving the hand (in the absence of considering wind in the basic explanation related to the throw - force ceasing) is because of inertia (which is not a force). The force of the throw is what initially gave it motion, but once the throw - force is no longer applied (after leaving the hand), inertia (as a property, not a force) is why it keeps moving forward until other forces (like air resistance, gravity etc.) act on it more significantly.

Answer:

Inertia (which is NOT a force).