Honors Physics unit 2 vocab

Question 1

force

Answer 1

A push or pull exerted on an object that causes a change in motion; has both direction and magnitude and may be a contact or a field force

Question 2

free body diagram

Answer 2

A physical model that represents the forces acting on a system

Question 3

net force

Answer 3

The vector sum of all forces acting on an object

Question 4

Newton’s Second Law

Answer 4

F = ma; A unbalanced, external force will cause an object to have an acceleration in the direction of the force. This acceleration is proportional to the net force and inversely proportional to the mass.

Question 5

Newton’s First Law

Answer 5

Law of Inertia; States that an object at rest will remain at rest, and a moving object will continue moving in a straight line with constant speed if and only if the net force acting on the object is zero

Question 6

inertia

Answer 6

The tendency of an object to resist change

Question 7

equilibrium

Answer 7

The condition in which the net force on an object is zero

Question 8

apparent weight

Answer 8

the force experienced by an object, resulting from all the forces acting on it, giving the object an acceleration. Think of it in this way: it is a measure of downward force (including the force of gravity and all other forces in the vertical direction); weight, however, is a measure of only the force of gravity.

Question 9

weightlessness

Answer 9

An object’s apparent weight of zero that results when there are no contact forces pushing up on the object

Question 10

drag force

Answer 10

A force exerted by a fluid on an object moving through the fluid; depends on the object’s motion and the fluid’s properties

Question 11

terminal velocity

Answer 11

The constant velocity (zero acceleration) of an object that is reached when the drag force equals the force of gravity

Question 12

interaction pair

Answer 12

A pair of forces that are equal in strength, but opposite in direction

Question 13

Newton’s Third Law

Answer 13

States that all forces come in pairs and that the two forces in a pair act on different objects as well as are equal in strength and opposite in direction

Question 14

tension

Answer 14

The specific name for the force exerted by a rope or a string

Question 15

normal force

Answer 15

The perpendicular contact force exerted by a surface on another object (the force of the plane pushing up on the object)

Question 16

components

Answer 16

Projections of the component vectors

Question 17

vector resolution

Answer 17

The process of breaking a vector into its components

Question 18

kinetic friction (fk)

Answer 18

The force exerted on one surface by a second surface when the two surfaces rub against one another because one or both of the surfaces are moving

Question 19

static friction (fs)

Answer 19

The force exerted on one surface by a second surface when there is no motion between the two surfaces.

Question 20

coefficient of kinetic friction

Answer 20

The slope of a line, μk, between two surfaces, relating frictional force to normal force

Question 21

coefficient of static friction

Answer 21

A dimensionless (no units) constant depending on the two surfaces in contact. It is used to calculate the maximum static frictional force that needs to be overcome before motion begins. (Think of μ)

Question 22

equilibrant

Answer 22

A force that places an object in equilibrium; it is the same magnitude as the resultant, but opposite in direction.