Physics: Newton's Laws of Motion, Reference Frames, and Mass

Vocabulary flashcards covering core concepts from Chapter 3 including Newton's laws, inertial and non-inertial reference frames, fictitious forces, inertia, mass, and weight.

Force

A vector quantity, fully specified by magnitude and direction, that is capable of producing or changing the motion of an object.

Newton's First Law

The law of motion stating that an object will remain at rest or in uniform linear motion (speed, direction, and displacement unchanged) unless acted on by a force.

Inertial Reference Frame

A reference frame in which there is no acceleration, where objects appear at rest or continue at an unchanged velocity provided no forces are applied, and in which all laws of physics appear the same.

Fictitious Force

An apparent force that appears solely because an accelerating (non-inertial) reference frame has been chosen.

Coriolis Effect

A fictitious force arising entirely from the rotation of the Earth that affects large global-scale atmospheric events like tropical storms.

Hurricanes

Tropical storms formed in the Northern Hemisphere that rotate counterclockwise due to the Coriolis effect.

Cyclones

Tropical storms formed in the Southern Hemisphere that rotate clockwise due to the Coriolis effect.

Inertia

A property of mass defined as the natural tendency of an object to remain at rest or in uniform motion.

Mass

The measure and quantification of the amount of inertia an object has, representing an object's inherent resistance to being accelerated.

Newton's Second Law

The law of motion stating that forces accelerate masses, where the mass acts as the measure of resistance to that acceleration.

Weight

A force that acts on an object's mass as a result of the acceleration due to gravity at the Earth's surface.