Motion in One Dimension Flashcards
What is a vector?
A physical quantity which has both magnitude and direction
What is a scalar?
A physical quantity which has magnitude only
What is distance?
The length of a path
What is a displacement?
A change in the position of something
What is magnitude?
The size of a physical quantity
What kind of quality is speed?
A scalar
What kind of quality is distance?
Scalar
What kind of quality is energy?
A scalar
What kind of quality is velocity?
A vector
What kind of quality is mass?
Scalar
What kind of quality is weight?
Vector
How is a vector represented?
A straight line-the length of the line represents the magnitude
An arrow head- shows the direction
How is direction described?
Conventional points (Left, right, etc.) Cardinal points (North, South etc.) In degrees (measured from the horizontal)
What is a resultant vector?
A single vector that has the same effect as all the component vectors together would have
How do you get resultant vectors?
Formula first
Replace with numbers
Write the answer with the magnitude and the direction
What is a maximum vector?
It is when two vectors act in the same direction, i.e the angle between them is 0°
How do you get the resultant vector of a maximum resultant?
Find the sum of the two magnitudes
What is a minimum resultant?
It occurs when two vectors act in opposite directions i.e the angle between them is 180°
How do you get the resultant vector of a minimum resultant?
Find the difference between the magnitudes of the two vectors
When adding two vectors with opposite directions, how do you show direction?
The vector going to the right is positive
The vector going to the left will be negative
If your final answer is positive the resultant vector is to the right
If your final answer is negative, the resultant vector is to the right
Explain the difference between displacement and distance
Someone walks forward 3m
They then walk backward 3m
Their displacement is 0 (they are in the same place)
Their distance is 6m (that is how far they travelled)
How is position measured?
Relative to a reference point
What kind of quantity is position?
A vector
What is the symbol for position?
X