Newton’s Laws
This law states that objects in motion stay in motion unless acted on by an outside force.
Newton’s first law
This upward force counters the weight of an aircraft.
Lift
This is the change in an object’s position over time.
Motion
A push or pull on an object is known as this.
Force
This part of a rocket holds the fuel.
propellent Tank
This law states that force equals mass times acceleration.
His second law
This force acts opposite the direction of motion and slows an aircraft down.
Drag
This quantity describes both speed and direction.
Velocity
This force resists motion between two surfaces in contact.
Friction
This section of a rocket contains the instruments, controls, or payload.
Payload Bay
This law explains why rockets move forward when exhaust gases move backward.
His third law
This principle explains how faster airflow over a wing creates lower pressure.
Bernoulli’s Principle
This is the rate at which velocity changes.
Acceleration
This force pulls all objects toward Earth’s center.
Gravity
These fins help stabilize a rocket during flight.
Stabilizing Fins
This law explains how the Hubble Space Telescope stays in orbit by constantly “falling” around Earth.
First law of motion
The Space Shuttle used wings and aerodynamic surfaces to glide back to Earth using this type of flight.
Unpowered Gliding Flight
This type of motion describes the path of Sputnik 1 as it orbited Earth in 1957.
Circular orbital motion
This force had to be overcome for Apollo 11’s Saturn V rocket to lift off the launch pad.
Gravitational force
This reusable spacecraft, first launched in 1981, changed rocket design by landing like an airplane.
Space Shuttle
This law explains how Mars rovers like Curiosity and Perseverance use balanced and unbalanced forces to move across the Martian surface.
Newton’s second law
This angle between the wing’s chord line and the airflow helped the Wright Brothers achieve controlled flight and later influenced early NASA aircraft.
Angle of Attack
This describes the motion of the Voyager probes as they continue traveling beyond the solar system with no opposing forces acting on them.
Constant velocity in deep space
This term describes the total of all forces acting on an object, such as the balanced forces astronauts experience while orbiting Earth.
Net force
This equation, used to design rockets like the Saturn V and modern boosters, relates velocity change to exhaust velocity and mass ratio.
Tsiolkovsky rocket equation