Chapter 3- Forces and Newton's Law

Air Resistance

Force that opposes the motion of objects that move through the air

Centripetal Force

A force that is directed toward the center of a curved or circular path

Force

A push or pull exerted on an object

Free Fall

Describes the fall of an object on which only the force of gravity is acting

Friction

Force that opposes the sliding motion between two touching surfaces

Gravity

Attractive force between two objects that depends on the masses of the objects and the distance between them.

Inertia

Tendency of an object to resist any change in its motion

Law of Conservation of Momentum

States that if no external forces act on a group of objects, their total momentum does not change

Net Force

Sum of all of the forces that are acting on an object

Newton's 1st Law of Motion

States that an object moving at a constant velocity keeps moving at that velocity unless an unbalanced force acts on it

Newton's 2nd Law of Motion

States that the acceleration of an object is in the same direction as the net force on the object, and that the acceleration equals the net force divided by the mass

Newton's 3rd Law of Motion

States that when one object exerts a force on a second object, the second object exerts a force on the first object that is equal in strength and in the opposite direction

Terminal Velocity

The maximum speed an object will reach when falling through a substance, such as air

Weight

Gravitational force exerted on an object