Year 10 Physics: Motion, Forces, Energy and Work

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts of motion, forces, energy, and work based on the Year 10 Physics lecture transcript.

Speed ($v$)

A measure of the rate at which an object moves over a distance, telling you how quickly distance is covered.

Average Speed

Calculated by dividing the total distance travelled by the total time taken for a journey.

Speed Unit Conversion (km/h to m/s)

To convert from kilometers per hour to meters per second, the value is divided by $3.6$.

Scalar Quantity

A physical quantity that has magnitude only, such as distance, speed, time, mass, temperature, energy, or power.

Vector Quantity

A physical quantity that possesses both magnitude and direction, such as displacement, velocity, acceleration, weight, force, or momentum.

Displacement

A vector quantity representing the change in position of an object, often described as "speed in a given direction" when used to define velocity.

Force

A push or pull applied by one object onto another, measured in Newtons ($N$) and classified as either contact or non-contact.

Resultant Force

A single force that describes the combined action of all forces operating on a body, also known as the net force.

Distance-Time Graph Gradient

The steepness or slope of the trendline on a distance-time graph, which is equal to the speed of the object.

Velocity-Time Graph Gradient

The slope of the line on a velocity-time graph, which indicates the acceleration of the object.

Velocity-Time Graph Area

The area calculated under the curve of a velocity-time graph, which determines the total distance covered by a moving object.

Acceleration

The rate at which an object's velocity changes in magnitude or direction, calculated as $\text{Acceleration} = \frac{\text{change in velocity}}{\text{change in time}}$.

Balanced Forces

Forces that combine in a way that they cancel each other out, resulting in no resultant force and no change in the object's motion.

Unbalanced Forces

Forces that do not cancel out completely, producing a resultant force that changes the object's state of motion.

Momentum ($p$)

A property of moving objects quantified as "mass in motion," determined by the formula $p = m \times v$ where $m$ is mass and $v$ is velocity.

Newton's First Law of Motion

An object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless compelled to change its state by the action of an external force.

Inertia

The tendency of an object to resist changes in its state of motion; this resistance increases with the object's mass.

Newton's Second Law of Motion

States that the rate of change in momentum is proportional to the magnitude of the force, commonly expressed as $F = m \times a$.

Newton's Third Law of Motion

Whenever two bodies interact, the forces they exert on each other are equal in size, act in opposite directions, and are of the same type.

Terminal Velocity

The constant velocity reached by a falling object when the magnitude of air resistance equals the magnitude of weight, resulting in balanced forces.

Acceleration Due to Gravity ($g$)

The constant acceleration of an object falling in a vacuum, which on Earth is approximately $9.81$ or $10.0$ ($m/s^2$ or $N/kg$) regardless of the object's mass.

Gravitational Potential Energy (GPE)

The stored energy an object possesses due to its mass and position in a gravitational field, calculated as $GPE = m \times g \times h$.

Kinetic Energy ($KE$)

The energy found in moving objects, calculated using the formula $KE = \frac{1}{2} m \times v^2$.

Work Done ($W$)

The energy transferred when an object is moved over a distance by a force applied in the direction of its displacement, calculated as $W = F \times d$.

Law of Conservation of Momentum

A principle stating that the total momentum of a system before a collision is equal to the total momentum of the system after the collision.

Weight ($w$)

The force of gravity acting on a mass, which changes depending on the gravitational field strength of the planetary body ($w = m \times g$).

Impulse

The product of the force applied and the time interval over which it acts, resulting in a change in momentum.