IPC Vocab-Spring Final Review

Mechanics

the study of motion

Kinematics

the study of how things move

Dynamics

the branch of physics that studies forces and how they can change an object's motion

Retrograde Motion

The apparent notion of some planets in which they appear to slow down, stop or reverse their direction and then resume their normal motion

Classical Mechanics

the study of how and why large objects move; also called Newtonian mechanics

Quantum Mechanics

the branch of physics that explores the behavior of matter and energy at the atomic and subatomic level

Relativistic Mechanics

the study of motion of objects whose speeds are near the speed of light

Frame of Reference

a coordinate system used to describe the motion of an object

System

a portion of a larger motion that we are interested in studying

Distance

how far an object moves during a time interval

Displacement

a vector quantity that describes a change in position

Scalar

a measurable quantity that consists of magnitude (size) only

Vector

a measurable quantity with both magnitude and direction

Speed

a scalar quantity indicating the rate at which an object moves

Velocity

a vector quantity indicating the rate at which an object's position changes

Momentum

a property of a moving system that is equal to its velocity times its mass

Acceleration

the rate of change

Free Fall

the motion of an object that falls due to gravity alone with no other forces acting on it (acceleration near surface of the earth is 9.81m/s^2)

Circular Motion

movement along a circular path

Centripetal Acceleration

acceleration that causes an object to move along a circular path

Projectile Motion

the two dimensional motion of any flying object whose path is determined by the influence of an external force only, such as gravity

Trajectory

the curved path of a projectile

Force

a push or pull on an object; Newtons (N)

Contact Force

A force that acts only when one object touches another

Field Force

A force that acts between objects that are not touching; also called force at a distance

Free-body Diagram

a sketch that shows an object and the forces acting on it; also called a force diagram

Balanced Forces

simultaneous forces whose pushes and pulls cancel each other out

Net Force

the vector sum of all the forces acting on an object

Unbalanced Forces

a collection of forces on an object that don't cancel out and thus cause acceleration

Inertia

the tendency of matter to resist changes in its motion

Law of Inertia (1st Law)

the law that states that objects at rest remain at rest and objects in motion continue in a straight line at a constant velocity unless acted on by a net external force

Law of Acceleration (2nd Law)

the law that states that the acceleration of an object is proportional to its mass (F=ma) (Force=mass x acceleration)

Law of Action-Reaction (3rd Law)

The law that states that for every action force, there is an equal and opposite reaction force

Tension

a pulling force that is transmitted through a rope, chain, or similar object

Normal Force

the force that acts in a direction that is perpendicular to the surface where two objects make contact

Gravity

a field force that acts between the masses of any two objects

Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation

the law that states that the strength of gravity varies in direct proportion to the masses of the objects involved and inversely to the square of the distance between their centers of masses

Friction

a contact force that works against the motion of objects trying to move past each other

Static Friction

the frictional force between the objects that are touching but not moving relative to each other

Sliding Friction

the frictional force between two objects when one is sliding past the other; also called kinetic friction

Rolling Friction

the frictional force between two objects when one is rolling relative to the other

Centripetal Force

a force that accelerates an object toward the center of a circular path

Fundamental Forces

any one of the four forces that appear to underlie all the other known forces: gravity, strong force, weak force, and electromagnetic force

Work

the energy transferred to a system by an external force when it acts on the system to move it

Power

the rate of doing work

Simple Machine

a basic mechanical device that changes the magnitude, direction, or distance traveled of the force used when doing work

Mechanical Advantage (MA)

the amount by which a simple machine multiplies an input force to produce an output force

Ideal Mechanical Advantage (IMA)

the mechanical advantage for an ideal machine (100% efficient) with no friction

Actual Mechanical Advantage (AMA)

the mechanical advantage that accounts for all mechanical losses sustained through using a machine

Efficiency

a comparison of the amount of usable energy remaining after a process with the original amount of energy that went into the process

Wheel and Axle

a simple machine consisting of a wheel with a rod running through its axis that acts as the pivot point

Gear

a simple machine that consists of a wheel with teeth on its perimeter that mesh with similar teeth of other gears to do work

Pulley

a simple machine that consists of a wheel and axle system with a groove around the perimeter of the wheel in which a rope, cable, or belt moves with the wheel as it rotates

Block and Tackle

a system of fixed and movable pulleys connected by ropes

Inclined Plane

a simple machine that consists of a plane whose opposite ends are at different heights

Wedge

a simple machine consisting of two inclined planes attached at an acute angle and used to spread a material apart as it is forced into the material

Screw

a simple machine that consists of an inclined plane wrapped around a cone or cylinder in a spiral pattern

Compound Machine

a machine that combines two or more simple machines

Static Electricity

accumulated electric charge on an object

Electric Force

the field force between two charged objects

Electric Field

a three dimensional region around a charged object that will apply a force on other charged objects within that region

Electric Potential Energy

energy that is stored by a charged object in an electric field

Charging by Friction

The process by which an object can gain excess charge while being rubbed by another object.

Charging by Induction

The process by which one charged object can produce a second charged object by allowing the electric force to move excess charge onto the second object while the two objects are not in contact with each other.

Charging by Conduction

The process by which one charged object can produce a second charged object by the two objects being placed in contact with each other and the excess charge being shared.

Grounding

The act of providing a path for electrical charge to move into the earth.

Law of Conservation of Charge

The principle that states that charge cannot be created or destroyed but only transferred between objects.

Current Electricity

Electricity involving moving electric charges.

Electric Current

The movement of electric charge through a complete loop.

Electric Circuit

The loop through which current electricity can flow.

Open Circuit

An incomplete electric circuit that prevents the movement of charge.

Closed Circuit

A complete electric circuit that allows charge to flow.

Direct Current

Electric current in which electric charges move in only one direction.

Conventional Current

The direction in a DC circuit that positive charges would flow; decided by agreement as the standard current direction.

Alternating Current

Electric current in which the charge carriers change direction periodically.

Electrical Conductor

A material through which electric charge moves easily.

Electrical Insulator

A material through which electric charge does not move easily.

Semiconductor

A material with conductivity between those of conductors and insulators.

Ampere

The fundamental SI unit of electric charge.

Ammeter

A meter used to measure electric current through a circuit.

Voltage

The 'force' that moves electric charge carriers through an electrical circuit; also called electric potential difference.

Volt

The derived SI unit for electric potential difference.

Voltmeter

A meter used to measure voltage.

Battery

A power source for DC electrical systems consisting of 2 or more electrochemical cells.

Resistance

The property of matter indicating the degree to which the material slows down the flow of charge carriers.

Ohm

The unit for resistance.

Superconductor

A material with zero resistance.

Ohm's Law

The law that states that the current in a circuit is directly related to the voltage and inversely related to the resistance.

Electrical Load

An electrical device in a circuit.

Short Circuit

An unintended path for an electric current.

Resistor

An electrical device that slows down electric current by converting electrical energy into other forms such as thermal energy.

Capacitor

A device that stores electric charge.

Series Circuit

A circuit with only one path that electric current can take.

Parallel Circuit

A circuit with multiple paths that electric current can take.

Electric Power

The work per second done or produced by an electrical system.

Fuse

An electrical safety device that opens the circuit by melting when an overheated condition occurs due to excessive current.

Circuit Breaker

An electrical safety device consisting of an automatic switch that opens when there is too much current in a circuit.

Ground Fault Interrupter (GFI)

A safety device consisting of an outlet with a built-in circuit breaker.

Magnet

Any material or object that can produce a magnetic field.

Magnetism

The properties of magnets and magnetic fields and the phenomena that they produce (considered a field force).