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PS U1
Newton's 1st Law, Inertia, and Motion
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Distance | How far you have traveled between two positions. It is always positive. It is a scalar quantity. |
Displacement | Change in position. It is the straight line distance between your starting position and ending position. It is equal to final position minus initial position. It can be positive or negative. It is a vector quantity. |
Scalar | Quantity that only requires magnitude (how big) |
Vector | Quantity that requires both magnitude (how big) and directions |
Speed | How fast something is moving. It is equal to distance divided by time. It is a scalar quantity |
Velocity | Rate at which position changes. It is equal to displacement divided by time. It is a vector quantity |
Newton’s First Law | AKA the law of inertia. An object at rest will stay at rest and an object in motion will stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. |
Mass | A measure of the amount of matter an object contains. Also, a measure of the amount of inertia an object has. |
Inertia | The resistance an object has to changes in its motion. |
Force | Any push or pull (interaction) that can cause a change in motion. |
Net Force | The combination of all of the forces on an object. |
Balanced Force | When the net force in both the horizontal and vertical directions is 0 N. These cause motion to remain unchanged. |
Unbalanced Force | When the net force in both the horizontal and vertical directions is not 0 N. These cause motion to change. |
Gravitational Force/Weight(Fg) | A non-contact force between two objects that is most apparent close to a large object, such as a planet, The direction of the force is general towards the center of the other object. Eg. Towards the center of the earth. |