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Force and Motion Vocab Words

Terms in this set (11)

Force
The cause of acceleration or the change in an object's velocity.
Friction
The force that opposes movement when two surfaces touch one another.
Coefficient of Friction
The ratio of the force that maintains contact between an object and a surface and the frictional force that resists the motion of the object.
Acceleration
The rate of change of velocity of an object over time.
Inertia
The property of matter by which it retains its state of rest or its velocity along a straight line so long as it is not acted upon by an external force.
Momentum
A quantity that characterizes the motion of a body, equal to its mass multiplied by its velocity.
Velocity
Rate of change of position (speed) with a direction. speed = distance / time
Terminal Velocity
The speed at which resistance (especially air resistance) balances acceleration (especially the acceleration of gravity). Commonly used to describe the highest speed reached by a falling object, when the forces of gravity and air resistance are in equilibrium and there is no acceleration.
Unbalanced Force
The situation where some forces acting on an object are greater than others so its speed and/or direction of motion are changed.
Balanced Force
The situation where the forces acting on an object cancel each other out so there are no changes in speed and/or direction of motion.
Gravity
The mutual force of attraction between particles of matter. On the surface of the Earth, it is the force that constantly accelerates objects toward the center of the Earth at a rate of 9.8 meters per second squared (9.8m/s2).
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