Force and Laws of Motion Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and definitions related to momentum, forces, Newton's laws of motion, and momentum conservation.

Momentum

The product of mass and velocity of a body, which serves as a measure of the quantity of motion of a body.

SI Unit of Momentum

Kilogram meters per second ($kg\,m/s$).

Balanced Forces

Forces whose resultant acting on a body is zero; they cannot produce motion in a body but can change its shape.

Unbalanced Forces

Forces whose resultant acting on a body is not zero; they change the state of rest or of uniform motion of a body.

Inertia

The property of bodies or objects to resist a change in their state of rest or of motion, which depends directly on the mass of the body.

Galileo's Law of Inertia

Another name for Newton's first law of motion.

Newton's First Law of Motion

States that a body at rest will remain at rest, and a body in motion will continue in motion in a straight line with a uniform speed unless it is compelled by an external force to change its state of rest or of uniform motion.

Force

An influence which tends to set a stationary body in motion or stop a moving body, or which tends to change the speed, direction, shape, or size of a body.

Newton ($N$)

The SI unit of force, defined as that force which when acting on a body of mass $1\,kg$ produces an acceleration of $1\,m/s^2$ in it.

Newton's Second Law of Motion

States that the rate of change of momentum of a body is directly proportional to the applied force and takes place in the direction in which the force acts, expressed as $F = m \times a$.

Newton's Third Law of Motion

States that to every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, where action and reaction act on two different bodies simultaneously.

Law of Conservation of Momentum

States that when two or more bodies act upon one another, their total momentum remains constant provided no external forces are acting.