Physics Terms

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Accuracy-

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A characteristic of a measured value that describes how well the results of a measurment agree with the "real" value, which is the accepted value, as measured by competent experimenters.

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Controlled Experiment-

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compares the results obtained from an experimental sample against a control sample, which is practically identical to the experimental sample except for the one aspect whose effect is being tested.

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Model-

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a theoretical construct that represents something, with a set of variables and a set of logical and quantitative relationships between them.

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Precision-

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A charecteristic of a measured value describing the degree of exactness of a measurment.

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Significant figures-

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All the valid digits in a measurment, the number of which indicates the measurment's precision.

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System-

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a set of entities, real or abstract, comprising a whole where each component interacts with or is related to at least one other component and they all serve a common objective.

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Acceleration-

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The rate at which the velocity of an pbject changes.

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Average Acceleration-

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the change in an objects velocity during a measurable time interval, divided by that specific time interval; is measured in m/s^2

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Displacement-

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is the vector that specifies the position of a point or a particle in reference to an origin or to a previous position. The vector directs from the reference point to the current position.

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Average Velocity-

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The change in position, divided by the time during which the change occurred; is the slop of an object's position-time graph.

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Constant Acceleration-

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Acceleration at a constant interval.

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Free Fall-

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The motionof a body when air resitance is negligable and the motion can be considered due to the force of gravity alone.

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Free Fall Acceleration-

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the acceleration of an object caused by the force of gravity from another object. An interesting fact is that any object will accelerate towards a large object (like the earth) at the same rate, regardless of the mass of the object. On the surface of the Earth, all objects fall with an acceleration of one g, which is approximately equal to 9.81 m/s².

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Velocity-

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The velocity of an object is its speed in a particular direction.

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Components of a vector-

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Magnitude and direction.

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Frame of Reference-

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A frame of reference is a particular perspective from which the universe is observed

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Projectile Motion-

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When something falls in a curved path.

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Resultant-

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A vector that results from the sum of twoother vectors.

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Scalar-

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Quantities, such as termperature or distance, that are just numbers without any direction

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Vector-

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Quantities, such as position, that have both magnitude and direction.

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Action reaction pair-

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With every reaction, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Newton's Third Law.

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Coefficient of Friction-

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A demionsionless constant depending on the two surfaces in contact.

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Contact Force-

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A constant-force spring is a spring for which the forced it exherts over its range of motion is a constant.

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Equilibrium-

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The condition in which the net force on an object is zero.

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Field Force-

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A conservative force field is a special kind of vector field that can be represented as the gradient of a potential.

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Force-

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In physics, the force experienced by a body is its rate of change of momentum with time. Forces are vectors (they specify both a magnitude and direction) and cause a body to accelerate to an amount which is in inverse proportion to its mass. Only four fundamental forces of nature are known: strong, electromagnetic, weak and gravitational (in order of decreasing strength).

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Force Diagram-

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A free body diagram is a pictorial representation often used by physicists to show all contact and non-contact forces acting on the given free body. Drawing such a diagram can aid physicists attempting to solve for the kinematics of a problem. Doing so can make it easier to understand the forces, and moments, in relation to one another and suggest to the physicist the proper concepts to apply in order to find the solution to a problem.

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Inertia-

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The principle of inertia is one of the fundamental laws of classical physics which are used to describe the motion of matter and how it is affected by applied forces. Inertia is the property of an object to remain constant in velocity unless acted upon by an outside force. Inertia is dependent upon the mass and shape of the object.

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Kinetic Friction-

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occurs when two objects are moving relative to each other and rub together (like a sled on the ground).

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Net External Force-

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The vetor sum of all forcesof an object.

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Normal Force-

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Theperpendicularcontact force exerted by a surface on another object.

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Static Friction-

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The force exerted on one surfaceby a second surface when there is nomotion between the two surfaces.

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Weight-

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a measurement of the gravitational force acting on an object.

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Elastic potential energy-

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Thepotential energy that may be stored in an object, such as a rubberband, as a resultof it's change in shape.

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Gravitational potential energy-

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The stored energy in a system resulting from the gravitational force between earth and the object.

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Kinetic Energy-

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The energy of an object, resulting from it's motion.

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Mechanical Energy-

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The sum of kinetic and gravitational potential energy of a system.

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Potential Energy-

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a work of certain force (say, gravitational force, or Coulomb force, etc) during change of the relative positions (configurations) of the objects within a physical system.

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Power-

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The work done, divided by the timeneeded to do the work.

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Spring Constant-

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an approximation that states that the amount by which a material body is deformed (the strain) is linearly related to the force causing the deformation (the stress).

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Work-

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The transferof energy by mechanical means; is done when a constant force is exerted on an object in the direction of motion, times the objects displacement.

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Parallel-

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Parallel is a term in geometry and in everyday life that refers to a property in Euclidean space of two or more lines or planes, or a combination of these. The existence and properties of parallel lines are the basis of Euclid's parallel postulate.

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Schematic Diagram-

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A schematic is a diagram that represents the elements of a system using abstract, graphic symbols rather than realistic pictures.

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Series-

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In mathematics, a series is often represented as the sum of a sequence of terms.

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Work-kinetic energy theorem-

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States that when work is done on an object, a change in kinetic energy occurs.

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Elastic Collision-

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A type of collison in which the kinetic energy before and after the collision remains the same.

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Impulse-

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The product of the average net force on an object and the time interval over which force acts.

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Momentum-

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The product of the object's mass and the object's velocity; is measured in kg x m/s

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Perfectly inelastic collision-

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A collision in which as much translational kinetic energy is converted into internal energy of the colliding systems as is consistent with the conservation of momentum. Also known as completely inelastic collision.

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Angular acceleration-

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The change in an angular velocity divided by the time needed to make the change; is measured in rad/s^2

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Angular speed-

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The angular displacement of an object divided by the time needed to make the displacement.

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Centripetal acceleration-

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The center seeking acceleration of an object moving in a circle at a constant speed.

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Gravitational Force-

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The attractive force between two objects that is directly proportional to the mass of the objects.

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Radian-

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1/2 pi of a revolution; abbreviated rad.

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Rotational Motion-

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Rotational motion is similar to circular motion, except the object involved is a rigid body in which all points rotate around the center of mass of the object and not around a fixed point.