Final answer:
When a skater glides on one skate, they exhibit translational motion due to Newton's First Law of Motion or the law of inertia. This motion continues in a straight line until external forces such as friction or air resistance act upon the skate. Angular momentum might also be conserved if the skater spins.
Step-by-step explanation:
When a skater glides across the ice on only one skate, the skate exhibits translational motion, which is a straight-line movement in a single direction. This is an example of Newton's First Law of Motion, also known as the law of inertia, which states that an object in motion will stay in motion in a straight line unless acted upon by an external force. In the case of the skater, external forces such as friction and air resistance may act upon the skate, but ideally, if these forces could be ignored, the skate would continue in uniform motion indefinitely.
Additionally, due to conservation of momentum, as highlighted in various physics scenarios such as an ice hockey puck sliding on an ice rink or ice skaters pulling each other towards one another, the skater's motion is governed by these principles and will continue until external forces alter this state.
Furthermore, angular momentum might play a role if the skater were to begin spinning while gliding, which is generally conserved in a closed system. This is similar to the situation described where an ice hockey puck strikes a hockey stick and both linear momentum and angular momentum are conserved, assuming elasticity and no other external forces are at play.