Unit 1: Measurement and Motion Practice Flashcards

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering physical quantities, measurement systems, scalar and vector kinematics, graphical analysis, and Newton's Laws based on the MYP 4 Physics curriculum.

Physical Quantity

A property defined either by specifying how it is measured or by stating how it is calculated from other measurements.

SI Units

The French Système International d’Unités, also known as the metric system, used as the standard by scientists and mathematicians.

English Units

Also known as the customary or imperial system or the foot–pound–second ($fps$) system, historically used in nations once ruled by the British Empire.

SAE Units

Named after the Society of Automotive Engineers, these units are used for products like fasteners and tools measured in inches rather than metric units.

Base Quantities

Physical quantities that must be defined through a measurement process and serve as the foundation for a system of units.

Derived Quantity

A physical quantity expressed as an algebraic combination of base quantities.

Meter ($m$)

The SI unit for the fundamental base quantity of length.

Kilogram ($kg$)

The SI unit for the fundamental base quantity of mass.

Second ($s$)

The SI unit for the fundamental base quantity of time.

Kelvin ($K$)

The SI unit for the fundamental base quantity of temperature.

Ampere ($A$)

The SI unit for the fundamental base quantity of current electricity.

Candela ($cd$)

The SI unit for the fundamental base quantity of luminous intensity.

Mole ($mol$)

The SI unit for the fundamental base quantity of amount of substance.

Order of Magnitude

The power of $10$ closest to a given number, used for quick comparisons and estimations.

Scientific Notation

A way of writing numbers in the form $a \times 10^n$, where $a$ is a number between $1$ and $10$ and $n$ is a positive or negative integer.

Scalar Quantity

A physical quantity fully described by a single number representing magnitude with no direction.

Vector Quantity

A physical quantity described by both magnitude and direction, requiring more than one number to describe it.

Mass

A scalar quantity measured in kilograms ($kg$) that represents the amount of matter in an object.

Temperature

A scalar quantity measuring the average kinetic energy of the particles in an object.

Volume

A scalar quantity measured in cubic meters ($m^3$) that measures the amount of space an object occupies.

Speed

A scalar quantity representing the distance an object travels every second, measured in $m\,s^{-1}$.

Velocity

A vector quantity defined as the rate of change of displacement, measured in $m\,s^{-1}$.

Acceleration

A vector quantity defined as the rate of change of velocity, measured in $m\,s^{-2}$.

Delta ($\Delta$)

A symbol in physics that means “change”.

Slope (Displacement-Time Graph)

Represents the velocity of the object on a displacement-time graph.

Area Under Curve (Velocity-Time Graph)

Represents the change in displacement of the object.

Area Under Curve (Acceleration-Time Graph)

Represents the change in velocity of the object.

Dimensional Formula

An expression representing a derived quantity using appropriate powers of symbols for fundamental quantities ($M, L, T, K, I, C, mol$) inside square brackets.

Newton’s First Law of Motion

States that a body will remain at rest or move with constant velocity unless acted on by a resultant force.

Newton’s Second Law of Motion

States that the resultant force on an object is directly proportional to its acceleration, expressed by the formula $F = ma$.

Newton’s Third Law of Motion

States that if Object A exerts a force on Object B, then Object B will exert an equal and opposite force on Object A.