Newton's Laws of Motion Lecture Notes

This set of flashcards covers vocabulary and key concepts related to Newton's Laws of Motion, including definitions of forces, inertia, and the relationships between mass, force, and acceleration.

Isaac Newton

A renowned physicist and mathematician from England who discovered the correlation between force and motion in 1687.

Newton's First Law of Motion

States an object at rest will stay at rest and an object in motion will stay in motion at the same speed and in the same direction unless acted on by an unbalanced force.

Inertia

The tendency of an object to resist a change in motion, meaning it will either stay at rest or continue moving in a straight line at a constant speed.

Acceleration

The change in the speed or direction of an object’s movement, defined by the formula $Acceleration = \frac{\text{Change in Velocity}}{\text{Time}}$.

Normal force ($F_N$)

The force that exists whenever an object is in contact with a surface, always perpendicular to the surface the object is in contact with.

Gravitational force ($F_G$)

The downward force acting on an object; a fundamental, invisible force of attraction between any two objects with mass that keeps planets in orbit and gives objects weight.

Mass

The measure of Inertia.

Newton's Second Law of Motion

States that the acceleration of an object by a force is inversely proportional to the mass of the object and directly proportional to the force.

Direct Proportionality (Force and Acceleration)

A relationship within Newton's Second Law where acceleration increases as the force increases.

Inversely Proportionality (Acceleration and Mass)

A relationship within Newton's Second Law where acceleration decreases as mass increases and vice versa.

Contact Force

A force that requires two objects to be in physical contact with one another, typically caused by physical objects rubbing against each other.

Non-contact Force

A force that acts upon objects without physical contact, typically caused by energy such as light, sound, and magnetism.

Second Law Equation

The mathematical formula expressed as $a = \frac{F}{m}$, where a is acceleration, F is force, and m is mass.

Newton ($N$)

The unit of force, equivalent to $kg(m/s^2)$.