Motion, Speed, Velocity, Acceleration, and Newton's Laws

Flashcards covering key vocabulary from lecture notes on motion, speed, velocity, acceleration and Newton's Laws of Motion.

Distance

How far an object travels.

Time

The duration of an object’s journey.

Speed

how fast an object is traveling; a scalar quantity (m/s)

Instantaneous Speed

The speed of an object at a split-second of a journey

Average Speed

The average of instantaneous speeds over a particular time period.

At Rest

Time is increasing but its distance is not changing

Constant Speed

Time increases as distance increases at the same rate

Acceleration

Slope of a velocity-time graph

Speed Increase

increasing slope

Speed Decrease

decreasing slope

Distance

The area underneath a speed time graph

slop of distance-time graph

average speed

Displacement

The change in position, shortest length between the finishing and starting positions

Velocity

speed in a certain direction

Instantaneous Velocity

The slope of the displacement-time graph at any one time

Acceleration

change in velocity, slopes of velocity-time graphs

Zero Acceleration

A flat slope on a velocity- time graph

Acceleration due to Gravity

Objects fall because the force of gravity pulls them towards the Earth

Newton’s first law of motion (law of inertia)

An object at rest/in motion will remain at rest/in motion in the same direction unless it is acted upon by a net force

Balanced Forces

When the forces acting on an object are equal, but in opposite directions

Newtons Second Law

An object will accelerate in the direction of an unbalanced force (net force) acting upon it (F=ma)

Mass

How much matter an object contains, measured in kg

Weight

the effect of gravity on an object

Newtons Third Law

For every action force there is an EQUAL and OPPOSITE reaction force