Basic Physics Vocabulary

Question 1

What is precision?

Answer 1

The closeness of measurements to each other when repeated under the same conditions.

Question 2

What is accuracy?

Answer 2

The closeness of a measurement to the true or accepted value.

Question 3

What is the definition of space?

Answer 3

The vast expanse in which all things in our universe exist, move, and occur.

Question 4

What is position?

Answer 4

A point or place in physical space.

Question 5

Define what distance is.

Answer 5

A measure of how far something travels through space no matter the direction.

Question 6

Define what displacement is.

Answer 6

A measure of the separation between two positions in space with a linear direction.

Question 7

What is a scalar quantity?

Answer 7

A quantity that only has magnitude and no direction/orientation.

Question 8

What is a vector quantity?

Answer 8

A quantity that has both magnitude and direction/orientation.

Question 9

What is time?

Answer 9

A dimension that measures the progression of events and experiences.

Question 10

What is the definition of kinematics?

Answer 10

The branch of mechanics that deals with the motion of objects without consideration of the forces that cause the motion.

Question 11

Define speed.

Answer 11

The rate at which an object changes its position.

Question 12

_____ is the measure of the rate of change of position in a particular direction.

Answer 12

Velocity.

Question 13

What’s momentum?

Answer 13

A vector quantity that measures the product of an object’s mass and velocity.

Question 14

A change in direction or speed of an object is the result of _____.

Answer 14

Acceleration.

Question 15

What is linear motion?

Answer 15

The movement of an object in a straight line, covering equal distances in equal intervals of time.

Question 16

Define circular motion.

Answer 16

The movement of an object in a circular path around a fixed point.

Question 17

The change in angle of an object when moving around a circle is known as the _____.

Answer 17

Angular displacement.

Question 18

_____ is the rate of change of an angle in circular motion; it is a vector as it also has a direction (clockwise or anticlockwise) associated with it.

Answer 18

Angular velocity.

Question 19

What is the motion of inertia?

Answer 19

A measure of how difficult or easy it is to change the angular motion of an object.

Question 20

_____ is the rate of change of angular velocity.

Answer 20

Angular acceleration.

Question 21

Define angular momentum.

Answer 21

The product of an object’s angular velocity and its moment of inertia.

Question 22

A _____ is one type of interaction that can occur between any two objects, one that changes the motion of an object if unopposed by another _____.

Answer 22

Force.

Question 23

What’s electromagnetism?

Answer 23

The phenomenon of magnetism produced by electric current.

Question 24

What is a strong interaction?

Answer 24

The fundamental force that binds quarks together within protons and neutrons.

Question 25

What is a weak interaction?

Answer 25

A fundamental force in particle physics responsible for processes like beta decay (brings about transformation).

Question 26

Define what a residual interaction is.

Answer 26

An interaction that remains after the main effects have been considered.

Question 27

What is nuclear force?

Answer 27

The fundamental force that holds protons and neutrons together in the nucleus of an atom.

Question 28

What is normal force?

Answer 28

The force that surfaces exert to prevent solid objects from passing through each other.

Question 29

What is the exclusion principle?

Answer 29

The exclusion principle is a principle that states that no two electrons in an atom can be found in the same space.

Question 30

What is friction?

Answer 30

The force that opposes the motion of objects in contact with each other.

Question 31

Define static friction.

Answer 31

The frictional force that prevents an object from sliding when it is at rest.

Question 32

What is kinetic friction?

Answer 32

The frictional force experienced by two surfaces already in motion over each other.

Question 33

Provide the correct definition of gravity.

Answer 33

The force of attraction between objects with mass.

Question 34

What is gravitational mass?

Answer 34

A measure of the amount of matter in an object and determines the strength of its gravitational attraction to other objects.

Question 35

What is inertial mass?

Answer 35

The resistance of an object to changes in its state of motion.

Question 36

What is Newton's gravity?

Answer 36

The force that causes objects to fall toward the Earth.

Question 37

What's a force field?

Answer 37

A vector field corresponding with a non-contact force acting on a particle at various positions in space.

Question 38

What are field lines?

Answer 38

Imaginary lines that represent the direction a positive test charge would follow in an electric or magnetic field.

Question 39

The strength of a force at any given point in the field is given by the _____.

Answer 39

Field strength.

Question 40

Define energy.

Answer 40

The capacity to do work or the ability to cause a change in matter.

Question 41

What's work?

Answer 41

The transfer of energy that occurs when a force is applied to an object, and the object moves in the direction of the force.

Question 42

What is Newton's first law?

Answer 42

An object will remain in the same motion unless acted upon by some force.

Question 43

What is Newton's second law?

Answer 43

Force equals mass times acceleration.

Question 44

What is Newton's third law?

Answer 44

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction (or the symmetry of force when two objects interact).

Question 45

Define kinetic energy.

Answer 45

The energy stored in the speed of an object.

Question 46

What is potential energy?

Answer 46

The energy associated with the position of an object in a gravitational field.

Question 47

What is a centripetal force?

Answer 47

The resultant force that always acts toward a central point at right angles to an object's motion.

Question 48

What are fictitious forces?

Answer 48

Forces that arise due to the acceleration of an object and are not caused by direction physical interactions.

Question 48

What is a torque?

Answer 48

The force that causes an object to rotate around an axis.