The "state of rest” in Newton's first law of motion (7)
I believe the answer is:
inertia
'the state' is the definition.
(I have seen 'Apathetic state' mean 'inertia' so perhaps 'state' could also mean 'inertia')
'rest in newton's first law of motion' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'in' is present in the answer.
'first' could be 'i' (I in Roman numerals eg Elizabeth I) and 'i' is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'of' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for inertia that I've seen before include "Idling" , "Lethargy" , "Passivity" , "Sort of reel" , "Resistance to motion" .)