Distance and Displacement Flashcards
What SI unit and common variables are associated with length?
Length or distance has SI units of meters (m).
The variables d and x are used for distance, h for height, z for depth, and r for radius.
What SI unit and common variables are associated with time?
Time has SI units of seconds (s).
The variable t is used for time, T is used for period and also has SI units of seconds.
What SI unit and common variables are associated with area?
Area has SI units of meters2(m2).
The variable A is used for area, S is used for surface area.
What SI unit and common variables are associated with volume?
Volume has SI units of meters3(m3).
The variable V is used for volume.
What SI unit and common variables are associated with velocity?
Velocity or speed has SI units of meters/second (m/s).
The variable v is used for velocity (a vector), though rarely used, s may be used for speed (magnitude only, scalar).
What SI unit and common variables are associated with acceleration?
Acceleration has SI units of meters/second2(m/s2).
The variable a is used for acceleration (a vector).
What two characteristics are necessary to define a vector?
Magnitude and direction.
Define:
magnitude of a vector
Magnitude is the quantity, size, or amount and is a scalar value since it lacks direction.
What is the magnitude of the velocity vector pointing directly down at 5 m/s?
5 m/s.
Magnitude is the quantity, size, or amount.
Define:
direction of a vector
Direction provides spacial orientation, angle, or path.
By convention, two perpendicular directions are fixed as positive (right and up) and their opposites as negative (left and down).
Position is
is the measure of where an object is at a particular time
Displacement is
is the change in position of an object
Distance is
is the total length of a traveled path between two positions.
Scalar quantity is
a quantity with magnitude or size without direction
Vector quantity is
a quantity having both magnitude or size and direction.
