Vocabulary

Question 1

Acceleration

Answer 1

a change in velocity

Question 2

Centripetal Force

Answer 2

the force, acting upon a body moving along a curved path, that is directed toward the center of curvature of the path and constrains the body to the path.

Question 3

Coefficient

Answer 3

a number that is constant for a given substance, body, or process under certain specified conditions, serving as a measure of one of its properties: coefficient of friction.

Question 4

Conservation (Law)

Answer 4

a principle that states that a certain physical property (i.e., a measurable quantity) does not change in the course of time within an isolated physical system

Question 5

Derive

Answer 5

a rate of change, which is the slope of a graph in geometric terms

Question 6

Displacement

Answer 6

a vector quantity that refers to “how far out of place an object is”;
it is the object’s overall change in position.

Question 7

Distance

Answer 7

a scalar quantity that refers to “how much ground an object has covered” during its motion.

Question 8

Elastic

Answer 8

the tendency of solid objects and materials to return to their original shape after the external forces (load) causing a deformation are removed

Question 9

Equilibrium

Answer 9

when linear and angular accelerations are both zero relative to an inertial frame of reference

Question 10

Field

Answer 10

a property of space that is detectable by the forces it exerts

Question 11

Force

Answer 11

the push or pull on an object with a specific magnitude and direction; can be represented by vectors or expressed as a multiple of a standard force

Question 12

Freefall

Answer 12

a situation in which the only force acting on an object is gravity

Question 13

Friction

Answer 13

the force that opposes relative motion or attempts at motion between systems in contact

Question 14

Fulcrum

Answer 14

the point on which a lever rests or is supported and on which it pivots

Question 15

Impulse

Answer 15

effect of applying a force on a system for a time interval; this time interval is usually small, but does not have to be

Question 16

Inelastic

Answer 16

collision that does not conserve kinetic energy

Question 17

Inertia

Answer 17

the ability of an object to resist changes in its motion

Question 18

Instantaneous

Answer 18

happening very quickly, in a single moment

Question 19

Justify

Answer 19

to show or prove that it is reasonable or necessary.

Question 20

Kinetic Energy

Answer 20

the energy of motion, one-half an object’s mass times the square of its speed

Question 21

Linear

Answer 21

to go in a straight line

Question 22

Mechanical Energy

Answer 22

the sum of the kinetic and potential energies

Question 23

Magnitude

Answer 23

length of a vector

Question 24

Net Force

Answer 24

the sum of all the forces acting on an object

Question 25

Normal

Answer 25

the perpendicular that is drawn to the reflecting surface

Question 26

Oscillation

Answer 26

single fluctuation of a quantity, or repeated and regular fluctuations of a quantity, between two extreme values around an equilibrium or average value

Question 27

Photogate

Answer 27

a timing device that measures times of the changes in the state of an infrared beam that is blocked by a flag of known length, as well as the times the beam is unblocked.

Question 28

Potential Energy

Answer 28

the function of position, the energy possessed by an object relative to the system considered

Question 29

Projectile Motion

Answer 29

the motion of an object subject only to the acceleration of gravity

Question 30

Resultant

Answer 30

the vector sum of two or more vectors

Question 31

Scalar

Answer 31

a number, synonymous with a scalar quantity in physics

Question 32

Sketch

Answer 32

a drawing of an area or an object mainly based on memory and not to scale

Question 33

Speed

Answer 33

a scalar quantity that refers to “how fast an object is moving; can be thought of as the rate at which an object covers distance

Question 34

System

Answer 34

object or collection of objects whose motion is currently under investigation; however, your system is defined at the start of the problem, you must keep that definition for the entire problem

Question 35

Tangent

Answer 35

a line that touches the curve or a circle at a point

Question 36

Tension

Answer 36

pulling force that acts along a stretched flexible connector, such as a rope or cable

Question 37

Terminal Velocity

Answer 37

the constant velocity achieved by a falling object, which occurs when the weight of the object is balanced by the upward drag force

Question 38

Torque

Answer 38

cross product of a force and a lever arm to a given axis

Question 38

Vector

Answer 38

mathematical object with magnitude and direction

Question 39

Velocity

Answer 39

a vector quantity that refers to “the rate at which an object changes its position.

Question 40

Work

Answer 40

done when a force acts on something that undergoes a displacement from one position to another

Question 41

Weight

Answer 41

force (w) due to gravity acting on an object of mass (m)