Honors Physical Science - Vocabulary 12

Inertia

The tendency of an object to resist a change in motion unless an outside force acts on the object

Weight

A measure of the gravitational force exerted on an object

Free Fall

The motion of a body when only the force of gravity is acting on the body

Terminal Velocity

The constant velocity of a falling object when the force of air resistance is equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to the force of gravity

Projectile Motion

The curved path that an object follows when thrown, launched, or otherwise projected near the surface of Earth

Momentum

A quantity defined as the product of the mass and velocity of an object

Newton’s First Law

An object at rest remains at rest and an object in motion maintains its velocity unless it experiences a net force

Newton’s Second Law

The unbalanced force acting on an object equals the object’s mass times its acceleration

Newton’s Third Law

For every action force, there is an equal and opposite reaction force