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What is meant by treating a collection of particles as an object in physics?
A collection of particles can be treated as an object when internal interactions change little or not at all, or when these changes are irrelevant to the question being addressed.
How can protons and neutrons be classified in terms of their fundamental structure?
Protons and neutrons are composed of fundamental particles called quarks and might be treated as either systems or objects depending on the question being addressed.
What determines the electric charges on neutrons and protons?
The electric charges on neutrons and protons result from their quark compositions.
How are the properties of systems determined in physics?
The properties of systems are determined by the properties and interactions of their constituent atomic and molecular substructures.
When can a system be referred to as an object in AP Physics?
In AP Physics, when the properties of the constituent parts are not important in modeling the behavior of the macroscopic system, the system itself may be referred to as an object.
What is the gravitational force called on Earth?
On Earth, the gravitational force is called weight
How is the gravitational field at a point in space measured?
The gravitational field at a point in space is measured by dividing the gravitational force exerted by the field on a test object by the mass of the test object. The field has the same direction as the force.
What are the properties of inertial mass and gravitational mass, and how are they related?
Objects and systems have properties of inertial mass and gravitational mass that are experimentally verified to be the same and that satisfy conservation principles.
How are forces detected?
Forces are detected by their influence on the motion of an object.
What are the characteristics of a force?
Forces have magnitude and direction.
Can an object exert a force on itself?
No, an object cannot exert a force on itself.
Can forces act on an object even if it is at rest?
Yes, even if an object is at rest, there may be forces exerted on that object by other objects.
In which direction is the acceleration of an object relative to the net force exerted on it?
The acceleration of an object is always in the direction of the net force exerted on it by other objects, though its velocity might not be.
What is the relationship between forces exerted by two objects on each other?
If one object exerts a force on a second object, the second object always exerts a force of equal magnitude on the first object in the opposite direction.
How can an object be represented in a force analysis?
An object can be drawn as if it were extracted from its environment, and the interactions with the environment can be identified.
How is a force exerted on an object represented visually?
A force exerted on an object can be represented as an arrow whose length indicates the magnitude of the force and whose direction shows the direction of the force.
How does aligning a coordinate system with the direction of acceleration simplify analysis?
A coordinate system with one axis parallel to the direction of the acceleration simplifies the translation from the free-body diagram to the algebraic representation.
What are the two common ways to depict free-body or force diagrams?
Free-body or force diagrams may be depicted with forces represented as arrows pointing outward from a dot, or with forces drawn at the point on the object where each force is exerted.
How is the acceleration of the center of mass of a system related to the net force?
The acceleration of the center of mass of a system is directly proportional to the net force exerted on it by all objects interacting with the system and inversely proportional to the mass of the system.
What is the relationship between force and acceleration?
Force and acceleration are both vectors, with acceleration in the same direction as the net force.
What is the relationship between the acceleration of the center of mass and its velocity?
The acceleration of the center of mass of a system is equal to the rate of change of the center of mass velocity with time, and the center of mass velocity is equal to the rate of change of position of the center of mass with time.
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