Sections
Key Terms
Key Terms
- air resistance
- a frictional force that slows the motion of objects as they travel through the air; when solving basic physics problems, air resistance is assumed to be zero
- amplitude
- the maximum displacement from the equilibrium position of an object oscillating around the equilibrium position
- analytical method
- the method of determining the magnitude and direction of a resultant vector using the Pythagorean theorem and trigonometric identities
- component (of a 2-dimensional vector)
- a piece of a vector that points in either the vertical or the horizontal direction; every 2-d vector can be expressed as a sum of two vertical and horizontal vector components
- deformation
- displacement from equilibrium, or change in shape due to the application of force
- equilibrium position
- where an object would naturally rest in the absence of force
- frequency
- number of events per unit of time
- graphical method
- drawing vectors on a graph to add them using the head-to-tail method
- head (of a vector)
- the end point of a vector; the location of the vector’s arrow; also referred to as the tip
- head-to-tail method
- a method of adding vectors in which the tail of each vector is placed at the head of the previous vector
- Hooke’s law
- proportional relationship between the force F on a material and the deformationit causes,
- kinetic friction
- a force that opposes the motion of two systems that are in contact and moving relative to one another
- maximum height (of a projectile)
- the highest altitude, or maximum displacement in the vertical position reached in the path of a projectile
- oscillate
- moving back and forth regularly between two points
- period
- time it takes to complete one oscillation
- periodic motion
- motion that repeats itself at regular time intervals
- projectile
- an object that travels through the air and experiences only acceleration due to gravity
- projectile motion
- the motion of an object that is subject only to the acceleration of gravity
- range
- the maximum horizontal distance that a projectile travels
- restoring force
- force acting in opposition to the force caused by a deformation
- resultant
- the sum of the a collection of vectors
- resultant vector
- the vector sum of two or more vectors
- simple harmonic motion
- the oscillatory motion in a system where the net force can be described by Hooke’s law
- simple pendulum
- an object with a small mass suspended from a light wire or string
- static friction
- a force that opposes the motion of two systems that are in contact and are not moving relative to one another
- tail
- the starting point of a vector; the point opposite to the head or tip of the arrow
- trajectory
- the path of a projectile through the air
- vector addition
- adding together two or more vectors