Electrophysics I Lecture Notes

This set of flashcards includes key concepts and definitions from the Electrophysics I lecture notes, focusing on kinematics, vectors, and Newton's laws of motion.

Kinematics

The branch of physics that describes the motion of objects without considering the forces that cause the motion.

Displacement

The shortest distance from the starting point to the ending point.

Velocity

The speed of an object in a specific direction.

Acceleration

The rate of change of velocity over time.

Vector

A directed line segment that has both magnitude and direction.

Magnitude of a vector

The size or length of a vector, indicated by vertical bars, denoted as |A|.

Unit vector

A vector of unit length, typically labeled with a caret, such as Aˆ.

Scalar Product

An operation that combines two vectors to form a scalar, also known as the dot product.

Commutative Law

A law stating that the order of addition does not affect the sum, i.e., A+B = B+A.

Newton's First Law of Motion

A body at rest tends to remain at rest, and a body in motion tends to remain in motion at constant velocity unless acted upon by a net external force.

Friction

An external force that opposes the direction of motion.

Force

Any interaction that causes a physical change or tends to change the state of rest or motion of an object.

Gravitational Force

The attractive force between two objects depending on their masses and distance between them.

Static Force

A force applied to a body at rest without causing movement, maintaining equilibrium.

Dynamic Force

The force acting on the body during motion, typically involving acceleration or deceleration.

Newton's Second Law of Motion

The rate of change of momentum of a body is directly proportional to the applied force and occurs in the direction of the applied force.

Newton's Third Law of Motion

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

Free-Body Diagram

A graphical representation that shows all the external forces acting on an object.

Coefficient of Friction

A constant that represents the ratio of the frictional force between two bodies to the normal force pressing them together.