Physical Science Vocabulary From Chapter 2

Front 1

The rate at which distance is covered.

Distance/Time
v=d/t

Back 1

Speed

Front 2

A speed that is calculated without knowing the details of travel, such as if the car traveled in a straight line or curved one.

Back 2

Average Speed

Front 3

How fast an object is moving at that moment.

Back 3

Instantaneous Speed

Front 4

Only has numbers and units.

Back 4

Scalar quantities

Front 5

How large an object is.

Back 5

Magnitude

Front 6

Has a direction as well as a magnitude associated with it. Displacement is an example.

Back 6

Vector quantities

Front 7

The vector quantity that includes both speed and direction.

Back 7

Velocity

Front 8

A straight line with an arrowhead at one end to show the direction of the quantity.

Back 8

Vector

Front 9

A triangle in which two of its sides meet to form a 90 degree angle.

Back 9

Right Triangle

Front 10

States that the sum of the squares of the short sides of a right triangle is equal to the square of its hypotenuse.

a2 + b2 = c2

Back 10

Pythagorean Theorem

Front 11

An object whose velocity is changing. Also includes objects whose direction is changing.

Back 11

Acceleration

Front 12

Something whose speed is decreasing.

Also sometimes called a name similar to the original one.

Back 12

Negative Acceleration or Deceleration

Front 13

Acceleration due to gravity

Back 13

The downward acceleration of a freely falling object near the Earth's surface.

g= 9.8 m/s2

Front 14

The result of a ball thrown upward that creates a curved path.

Back 14

Parabola

Front 15

When air resistance is equal to the speed at which the object is falling, this occurs.

Also known as free falling

Back 15

Terminal Speed

Front 16

Laws created by Newton concering the behavior of moving bodies

Back 16

Laws of Motion

Front 17

If no net force acts on it, an object at rest remains at rest and an object in motion rematins in motion at a constant velocity.

Back 17

First law of Motion

Front 18

Any influence that can change the speed or direction of motion of an object.

Back 18

Force

Front 19

The reluctance of an object to change its state of rest or of uniform motion in a straight line

Back 19

Inertia

Front 20

A measure of weight - unit is kg.

Back 20

Mass

Front 21

The net force on an object equals the product of the mass and the acceleration of the object. The direction of the force is the same as that of the acceleration.

F=ma

Back 21

Second law of motion

Front 22

The unit for defining force.

A (kg)(m/s2)

Back 22

Newton

Front 23

The British unit system describes force as this.

Back 23

lb. (pound)

Front 24

The force of an object with which it is attracted by the Earth's gravitational pull.

Back 24

Weight

Front 25

When one object exerts a force on a second object, the second object exerts an equal force in the opposite direction on the first object.

Back 25

Third law of Motion

Front 26

The force that the first object exerts on the second object.

Back 26

Action Force

Front 27

The opposite force that the second object exerts on the first object.

Back 27

Reaction Force

Front 28

An inward force on an object moving in a curved path.

F=mv2/r

Back 28

Centripetal Force

Front 29

Every object in the universe attracts every other object with a force proportional to both of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

F=Gm1m2/R2

Back 29

Newton's Law of Gravity

Front 30

The geometric center of an object.

Back 30

Center of Mass

Front 31

The speed required for soemthing to leave the gravitational influence of an astronomical body is permanently.

Back 31

Escape speed