Newton's Laws, Work, Energy, and Gravitation

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers Newton's Laws of Motion, work, various forms of energy, power, momentum, and the principles of universal gravitation based on the provided lecture notes.

Law of Inertia

Refers to the tendency of an object to resist any change in its state of motion.

Free-Body Diagram

A simplified representation that illustrates a single object isolated from its surroundings, along with all the external forces acting on it.

Newton ($N$)

The unit of force, where $1\,N$ is equivalent to $1\,kg/ms^2$.

Law of Acceleration

States that acceleration is directly proportional to the force but inversely proportional to the mass, expressed by the formula $F = ma$.

Force ($F$)

Refers to a push or pull exerted by one object.

Mass ($m$)

The amount of matter in an object.

Acceleration ($a$)

How fast an object changes its speed or direction.

Law of Interaction

States that for every force, there is always an equal and opposite reaction to it.

Resultant Net Force

The single vector sum of all individual forces acting on an object.

Equilibrium

A state an object is in when the net force acting upon it is zero.

Dynamic Equilibrium

A state where an object, such as a car traveling at a constant speed, has a forward force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to combined frictional and air resistance forces, resulting in a net force of zero.

WORK ($W$)

The energy transferred to or from an object when a force causes it to move along a displacement, calculated as $W = F \cdot d$.

Contact Force

Occurs when two objects must be in direct physical contact for the force to act.

ENERGY

The ability to do work.

Kinetic Energy ($KE$)

Refers to energy in motion, calculated using the formula $KE = \frac{1}{2}mv^2$.

Potential Energy ($PE$)

Refers to stored energy, calculated using the formula $PE = mgy$.

Conservation of Mechanical Energy

The principle that total mechanical energy in a closed system stays constant if only conservative forces—like gravity or spring forces—do work.

Power ($P$)

A physical quantity that measures how rapidly work is performed or how quickly energy is transferred, calculated as $P = \frac{W}{T}$.

Center of Mass ($COM$)

The average position of all the mass in an object or system, formulated as $COM = \frac{m_1x_1 + m_2x_2}{m_1 + m_2}$.

Momentum ($P$)

The quantity of motion an object has, calculated by multiplying its mass by its velocity ($P = mv$).

Conservation of Momentum

States that the total momentum of an isolated system remains constant.

Impulse ($J$)

A sudden urge or a push that causes action, calculated as $J = F \times \Delta t$.

Collision

An event where two or more bodies exert forces on each other over a short time, often involving the equation $m_1u_1 + m_2u_2 = m_1v_1 + m_2v_2$.

Gravity

The natural, invisible force of attraction between any two objects that have mass.

Newton’s Universal Gravitation

The force calculated by the formula $F = \frac{Gm_1m_2}{r^2}$.

$G$ vs. $g$

$G$ is the universal gravitation constant, whereas $g$ is the acceleration due to gravity.

Law of Conservation of Energy

States that energy cannot be created nor destroyed, only transformed from one form to another.