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Motion and Force
Studying for Position and Motion quiz
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Reference point | The starting point you choose to describe the location or position of an object. |
| Position | An object's distance and direction from a reference point. |
| Motion | The process of changing position. |
| Displacement | The difference between the initial, or starting, position and the final position. |
| Speed | A measure of the distance an object travels in a given amount of time. |
| Velocity | The speed and direction of a moving object. |
| Vector | A quantity that has both magnitude and direction. |
| Acceleration | A measure of the change in velocity during a period of time. |
| Force | A push or pull of an object. |
| Contact force | A push or pull on one object by another object that is touching it. |
| Newton's 2nd law of motion | The acceleration of an object equals the net force on the object divided by the object's mass. |
| Friction | A force that resists the sliding motion of two surfaces that are touching. |
| Free-body diagram | A simple model to understand systems of objects with any amount of applied forces. |
| Net force | The sum of all the forces acting on an object. |
| Newton's 1st law of motion | An object in motion will stay in motion, and an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted on by a force. |
| Inertia | An object's ability to resist any change in motion. |
| Newton's 3rd Law of motion | When an object applies a force on another object, the second object applies a force of the same strength on the first object, but the force is in the opposite direction. |
| Force Pair | The forces two objects apply to each other. |
| Normal force | The force that pushes perpendicular to the object's surface. |
| Elastic Collision | When colliding objects bounce off each other. |
| Inelastic Collision | A collision in which there is a loss of kinetic energy but total momentum is conserved. Typically transforming into heat, sound, or material deformation. |
| Non-contact force | A force that one object can apply to another object without touching it. |
| Gravity | An attractive force that exists between all objects that have mass. |
| Field | A region of space that has a physical quantity (such as a force) at every point. |
| Weight | The gravitational force exerted on an object. |