Motion & Graphs
To fully describe an object’s position, you need a distance, a direction, and this specific starting point.
A Reference Point.
This law states that an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.
Newton’s First Law (Law of Inertia).
This is the standard unit of measurement for Force.
Newtons (N).
Unlike friction, gravity can pull on an object without touching it, making it this type of force.
A Noncontact Force.
This is the force a surface applies to push back on an object; it is always perpendicular to the surface.
The Normal Force.
This term describes the straight-line difference between an object’s starting position and its final position.
Displacement.
This contact force always acts in the opposite direction of a sliding object’s motion.
Friction.
According to the Second Law, if you keep the force the same but increase the mass of an object, what happens to the acceleration?
The acceleration decreases (Inverse Relation).
These are the two factors that determine the strength of the gravitational pull between two objects.
Mass and Distance.
In this specific type of collision, objects hit each other and bounce off.
Elastic Collision.
This is represented by a perfectly horizontal (flat) line on a distance-time graph.
The object is at rest (speed is zero).
Newton’s Third Law states that for every action force, there is a reaction force that is equal in strength and ________ in direction.
Opposite.
Calculate the acceleration of a 5kg bowling ball that is pushed with a net force of 20N.
4 m/s² (20 ÷ 5).
This is the region of space surrounding an object (like Earth) where every point has a physical force quantity.
A Field.
Two players collide on a football field and fall to the ground while holding onto each other. This is an example of what type of collision?
Inelastic Collision.
A vector—like velocity—is a quantity that must include these two specific pieces of information.
Magnitude (size/speed) and Direction.
This is why force pairs do not cancel each other out.
They act on different objects.
A 10kg box is pushed to the right with 50N and pulled to the left by friction with 10N. What is the net force?
40N to the right.
Near Earth’s surface, this is the numerical value for the acceleration of gravity (g) for all falling objects.
9.8 m/s².
When an object is at "Terminal Velocity," these two forces are perfectly balanced.
Gravity (pulling down) and Air Resistance (pushing up).
Describe the velocity of a car that is traveling at a constant 60 mph while driving around a circular racetrack.
The velocity is constantly changing (because the direction is changing, even if speed is not).
This term describes the tendency of an object to resist a change in its motion.
Inertia.
Find the mass of an object that accelerates at 2 m/s² when a net force of 50N is applied.
25 kg (50 ÷ 2).
If the Sun’s gravitational pull suddenly disappeared, this would be the path Earth would take through space.
A straight line.
If an object is sitting on a ramp, the Normal Force pushes out at what specific angle relative to that ramp?
90 degrees (Perpendicular).