Gravity Flashcards
What is a vector?
a variable quantity, such as a force, that has a magnitude and a direction.
How do you calculate the Horizontal component of a vector?
ucosθ
How do you calculate the Vertical component of a vector?
usinθ
Difference between mass and weight?
mass is a measure of an objects ability to resist motion and doesn’t vary where the object goes in the universe.
weight is a force that depends on nearby astronomical bodies (e.g. gravity).
Define the term Normal Force?
the force acting perpendicular to the surface.
Describe Uniform Circular Motion?
the motion of an object travelling at a constant speed in a circle where the force acting on the object is perpendicular to the direction of the velocity.
Define the term Average Speed?
the rate of change of distance calculated by d/t
Define the term period?
the time taken to complete one full revolution calculated by t/no. revolutions
Define the term Centripetal Acceleration?
the acceleration experience by an object travelling in a circular path directed towards the centre of motion
define the term Centripetal force?
the force acting on an object travelling in circular motion that constantly either pushes or pulls the object towards the centre of motion
Recall Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation?
the force of attraction between each pair of point particles is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.
Define the term Gravitational Fields?
the region of space surrounding a body in which another body experiences a force of gravitational attraction.
Recall Kepler’s Law of Planetary Motion?
all planets move about the sun in elliptical orbits, having the sun as one of their foci.
