Vocabulary

Acceleration - The vector quantity which describes the rate of change of velocity with respect to time.

Average velocity - The total displacement  of an object divided by the total time of the motion.

British system - The system of measurement used in the United State which has the basic units of feet, pounds, and seconds.

Centripetal acceleration - The acceleration of an object which is moving in a circular pattern which is directed toward the center of the circle.

CGS system - The metric system of measurement which has the basic units of centimeters, grams, and seconds.

Circular motion - The motion of an object which is traveling through circle.  This is not rotation.

Direction - The path followed by an object given in angular measurement.

Displacement - The vector quantity which describes the change of position of an object.

Elastic collision - A collision between objects where energy and momentum are conserved.

Energy - The ability to do work.

Final velocity - The instantaneous velocity of an object at the end of motion.

Frame of reference - The standard by which all measurement are taken.

Frequency - The number of cycles per second.

Impulse - The combination of force and time which changes the momentum of an object.

Inelastic collision - A collision between objects where only momentum must be conserved.

Inertia - a property of matter by which it remains at rest or in uniform motion in the same straight line unless acted upon by some external force.

Initial velocity - The instantaneous velocity of an object at the beginning of motion.

Kinematics - The description of how objects move without regard to why they move.

Kinetic energy - The energy possessed by an object  because of its motion.

 Law of Conservation of Energy - The total energy in a system cannot be created or destroyed but must remain constant.

Law of Conservation of Momentum - The total momentum in a system cannot be created or destroyed but must remain constant.

Linear momentum - The product of the mass and velocity of an object.

Magnitude - The numerical value that is assigned to a variable without regard to the direction of the variable.

Mass - The amount of matter in an object.

MKS system - The metric system of measurement which has the basic units of meters, kilograms, and seconds.

Model  - A description or analogy used to help visualize something (as an atom) that cannot be directly observed.

Net force - The sum of all the vector force acting on an object at any given point in time.

Period - The length of time needed for one complete vibration.

Potential energy - The energy possessed by an object  because of its position in a gravitational field.

Scalar - A value that only has a magnitude but no direction.

Tangential acceleration - The acceleration of an object traveling in a circle which is at right angles to the radius of the circle.

Theory - A plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain phenomena

Translational - Motion of an object which can be described by its changes in position.

Two dimensional motion - The motion of an object which occurs in a plane.

Uncertainty - The inaccuracy that is associated with a measurement.

Vector - Any quantity that has both magnitude and direction.

Velocity - A vector quantity which refers to the rate at which an object changes its position.

Weight - The force of gravity acting on an object.

Work - The amount of energy needed to move an object from one position to another.