Unit 1: gravity and motion eps-sci2

What are the steps to the Scientific method

observation, hypothesis, experiment, analysis, conclusion

What is falsification in the scientific method

a hypothesis must be testable and able to be proven wrong

occams razor

the simplest explanation is preferred

Newtons 1st law

An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.

Newtons 2nd law

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

F=ma

Newtons 3rd law

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction

What is free fall

motion of an object only under influence of gravity

What determines the rate that objects fall at

Only gravity influences the rate. All objects fall at the same rate, regardless of mass

Mass vs Weight

Mass is a measurement of the amount of matter something contains, while Weight is the measurement of the force of gravity on an object.

what is momentum

inertia in motion (mv), tendency to continue moving

What is the conservation of momentum

total momentum in a system stays constant unless an outside force acts

What is potential energy

stored energy (mgh)

What is kinetic energy

energy of motion (1/2mv^2)

conservation of energy

Energy cannot be created or destroyed (it can only be transferred into different forms).

What is Power

energy used or transferred per second (how quickly work gets done)

What is angular speed

the rate at which an object rotates or revolves

what is tangential speed

the linear speed of something moving along a circular path

what is centripetal force

a force that acts on a body moving in a circular path and is directed toward the center around which the body is moving.

what is angular momentum

tendency of an object to keep spinning/rotating.

keplers 1st law

Planets move in ellipses with the Sun at one focus.

Keplers 2nd law

As a planet moves around its orbit, it sweeps out equal areas in equal times

Keplers 3rd law

The square of the orbital period of a planet is directly proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its orbit.

P^2=a^3

newtons universal law of gravitation

Any point mass attracts every other point mass with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to their separation².

what is a satellite

a projectile moving so fast horzontally that the Earth curves away as it falls

What is the orbital speed

8000 m/s (for low Earth orbit)