Physics SLO Vocab Assessment

Metric Units

Consists of many ways of measurement from SI, including:

1. Length (in m)

2. Mass (in kg)

3. Time (in s)

etc….

(if difficult to remember all, just think opposite of what America uses)

Kilogram

A unit of mass that is equal to 1000g

Centimeter

A unit of length that is equal to 0.01m

Second

A unit of time that is 1/60 of a minute and 1/3600 of an hour

Delta (∆)

Represents the change or difference in quantity

Sigma (∑)

Represents different quantities depending on the context

SI Units

Stands for System of Units (International) that often use scientific notation for simplicity reasons

Examples of Base Quantities:

1. Length (unit: meters (m))

2. Mass (unit: kilogram (kg))

3. Time (unit: second (s))

4. Electric current (unit: ampere (A))

5. Temperature (unit: kelvin (K))

6. Amount of substance (unit: mole (mol))

7. Luminous intensity (unit: candela (cd))

Examples of Derived Quantities and Units

1. Speed/velocity (unit: meters per second (m/s))

2. Acceleration (unit: meters per second squared (m/s²)

3. Force (unit: newtons (N))

4. Energy/work (unit: joule (J))

5. Power (unit: watt (W))

6. Pressure (unit: pascal (Pa))

Prefixes for Large and Small Values

• Larger

  1. Kilo (k) = 10^3

  2. Mega (M) = 10^6

  3. Giga (G) =10^9

• Smaller

  1. Milli (m) =10^-3

  2. Micro (μ) = 10^-6

  3. Nano (n) = 10^-9

Time

A unit that measures the amount of time spent during the course of an experiment that can be taken in minutes, seconds, hours, days, weeks, years, and more but typically seconds

Length

A unit that measures distance or the “length” of a physical thing that can be taken in meters, kilometers, centimeters, and more

What does “g” stand for?

Gravity

What does “v” stand for?

Velocity

What does “a” stand for?

Acceleration

What does “t” stand for?

Time

What does “x” stand for/mean?

Distance

What does “m” stand for?

Mass

Tension

The force transmitted through a string, rope, cable, or any flexible connector when it is pulled tight by forces acting on it at either end (also known as a pulling force from two ends)

SOH-CAH-TOA

SOH: Sin (Opposite/Hypotenuse)

CAH: Cos (Adjacent/Hypotenuse)

TOA: Tan (Opposite/Adjacent)

Mass

The measure of matter in an object and is scalar

Distance

The measure of length that can be taken through meters, kilometers, centimeters, and more

Displacement

A vector quantity that represents the change in position of an object (distance from initial position to the final position and IS A VECTOR QUANTITY)

Initial Velocity

The first and initial velocity of a system that is also commonly known as v_i

Final Velocity

The last and final velocity of a system that is also commonly known as v_f

Instantaneous Velocity

Acceleration

Weight

What is the value of gravity for Earth?

(-)9.8m/s

Vector

Scalar

Range

Trajectory

Free Fall

Coefficient of Friction

Force

Inertia

Net Force

Slope

Static Friction

Kinetic Friction

Normal Force

Newton’s First Law

An object at rest remains at rest, and an object in motion remains in motion at constant speed and in a straight line unless acted on by an unbalanced force

Newton’s Second Law

The acceleration of an object depends on the mass of the object and the amount of force applied

Newton’s Third Law

Whenever one object exerts a force on a second object, the second object exerts an equal and opposite force on the first