CP1 Flashcards
Acceleration
A measure of how quickly the speed of something is changing. This is a vector quantity.
Displacement
The distance travelled in a particular direction. Displacement is a vector, distance is not.
Distance
How far something has travelled. Distance is a scalar quantity.
Force
A force is a push, pull or twist. Forces acting on an object can cause it to accelerate. Force is a vector quantity.
Magnitude
The size of something, such as the size of a force or the measurement of a distance.
Mass
A measure of the amount of material that there is in an object. Mass is a scalar quantity.
Momentum
A measure of motion (mass multiplied by velocity). Momentum is a vector quantity.
Scalar quantity
A quantity that has magnitude but not direction. (e.g mass, distance, energy & speed).
Speed
A measure of the distance an object travels in a given time. Usually measured in m/s. Speed is a scalar quantity.
Vector quantity
A quantity that has both magnitude and direction. (e.g force, velocity, displacement, momentum & acceleration).
Velocity
The speed of an object in a particular direction. Usually measured in m/s. Velocity is a vector quantity.
Weight
The force pulling and object downwards, depending on the mass of the object and the gravitational field strength. Weight is a vector quantity.
Average speed
The speed worked out from the total distance travelled divided by the total time take for a journey. (distance travelled/time).
Distance/time graph
A graph of the distance travelled against time for a moving object. the gradient of a line on the d/t graph gives the speed.
Instantaneous speed
The speed at one particular moment in a journey.
