Force and Newton's First Law of Motion

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers the fundamental definitions of force, the historical transition from Aristotelian to Galilean views, and the principles of Newton's Law of Inertia.

Force

A push or pull that produces a change in a state of motion of an object; an interaction between two bodies or between a body and its environment.

Contact Force

A type of force that results from physical or direct contact between two bodies, such as lifting a bag or kicking a ball.

Non-contact, Long Range Field Force

A force that does not involve direct contact and acts through a distance, such as magnetic force or the gravitational force exerted by Earth to keep the moon in orbit.

Aristotle

A philosopher from the 4th century BCE who believed an object would keep moving only for as long as force was applied to it, and its motion would cease as soon as the force was removed.

Galileo

A scientist who opposed Aristotle's idea by showing that objects continue in motion without the application of force, identifying this property as inertia.

Inertia

The property of an object to behave by continuing in motion without applied force, or the tendency of things to resist change in motion.

Law of Inertia

A law stating that a body continues in its state of rest or in its state of motion at constant velocity provided that no net force acts on it.

Mass

The measure of inertia; the larger the mass of an object, the greater its inertia (e.g., a $1000\,kg$ cart has greater inertia than a $50\,kg$ cart).