8th Grade Newton's Laws

Terms in this set (15)

Newton's first law
An object in motion (or at rest) will tend to stay in motion (or at rest) until it is acted upon by an outside force.
Newton's second law
the acceleration of an object depends on the mass of the object and the amount of force applied
Newton's third law
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction
force
a push or a pull
net force
the combination of all forces acting on an object
unbalanced force
a force that causes an object to start or stop moving or to change direction (accelerate)
balanced force
forces that are equal and acting on an object in opposite directions
friction
the force that two surfaces exert when they rub against each other
gravity
a force that pulls objects towards each other
free fall
an object experiences this when gravity is the only force acting on it
air resistance
a type of fluid friction that objects falling through air experience
terminal velocity
the greatest velocity an falling object can reach; when the force of air resistance equals the weight of the object
inertia
tendency of an object to resist a change in motion; "stubbornness"
momentum
mass in motion; a quantity of motion that depends on mass and velocity
law of conservation of momentum
the total momentum of objects that interact stays the same in the absence of outside forces
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