Laws of Motion Practice Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering Newton's Laws of Motion, equations of motion, types of acceleration, and fundamental physical quantities based on the lecture notes.

Newton's First Law of Motion

An object continues to remain at rest or in a state of uniform motion along a straight line unless an external unbalanced force acts on it.

Newton's Second Law of Motion

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

Newton's Third Law of Motion

A law that states the relation between action and reaction forces.

Inertia

A phenomenon explained by Newton's first law of motion related to an object remaining at rest or in uniform motion.

Law of Conservation of Momentum

A corollary of Newton's laws stating that total momentum is always conserved in a collision.

Velocity

The distance travelled in a particular direction by an object in unit time, or displacement per unit time.

Acceleration

The rate of change of velocity, calculated as $\frac{\text{change in velocity}}{\text{time}}$.

Uniform Motion

Motion in which an object covers equal distances in equal intervals of time.

Non-Uniform Motion

Motion in which an object covers unequal distances in equal time intervals.

$$1\,Newton\, (N)$$

The force necessary to cause an acceleration of $1\,m/s^{2}$ in an object of mass $1\,kg$ ($1\,N = 1\,kg \times 1\,m/s^{2}$).

$$1\,dyne$$

The CGS unit of force defined as $1\,g \times 1\,cm/s^{2}$.

First Equation of Motion

The relation between velocity and time, expressed as $v = u + at$.

Second Equation of Motion

The relation between displacement and time, expressed as $s = ut + \frac{1}{2}at^{2}$.

Third Equation of Motion

The relation between displacement and velocity, expressed as $v^{2} = u^{2} + 2as$.

Distance

The length of the actual path travelled by an object in motion while going from one point to another.

Displacement

The minimum distance between the starting and finishing points of an object in motion.

Speed

The distance covered by a body in unit time.

Positive Acceleration

Occurs when the velocity of a body increases, such as a stone falling freely towards the earth.

Negative Acceleration

Also called deceleration or retardation, it occurs when the velocity of a body decreases.

Scalar Quantity

Physical quantities having magnitude only, such as distance, speed, and time.

Vector Quantity

Physical quantities having both magnitude and direction, such as displacement and velocity.

Uniform Circular Motion

The motion of an object along a circular path with uniform speed.

Momentum

The product of mass and velocity of an object ($p = mv$).

Recoil

The backward motion of a gun when a bullet is fired from it.

Speed of light in dry air

The constant speed at which light travels in dry air, which is $3 \times 10^{8}\,m/s$.

Balanced Force

A kind of force that keeps a body at rest.

Unbalanced Force

Forces that cause a change in the state of an object at rest or in uniform motion.