Glossary
- acceleration
- the rate at which an object’s velocity changes over a period of time
- carrier particle
- a fundamental particle of nature that is surrounded by a characteristic force field; photons are carrier particles of the electromagnetic force
- dynamics
- the study of how forces affect the motion of objects and systems
- external force
- a force acting on an object or system that originates outside of the object or system
- force
- a push or pull on an object with a specific magnitude and direction; can be represented by vectors; can be expressed as a multiple of a standard force
- force field
- a region in which a test particle will experience a force
- free-body diagram
- a sketch showing all of the external forces acting on an object or system; the system is represented by a dot, and the forces are represented by vectors extending outward from the dot
- free-fall
- a situation in which the only force acting on an object is the force due to gravity
- friction
- a force past each other of objects that are touching; examples include rough surfaces and air resistance
- inertia
- the tendency of an object to remain at rest or remain in motion
- inertial frame of reference
- a coordinate system that is not accelerating; all forces acting in an inertial frame of reference are real forces, as opposed to fictitious forces that are observed due to an accelerating frame of reference
- kinetic friction
- a force that opposes the motion of two systems that are in contact and moving relative to one another
- law of inertia
- see Newton’s first law of motion
- magnitude of kinetic friction
- , where
is the coefficient of kinetic friction
- magnitude of static friction
- , where
is the coefficient of static friction and
is the magnitude of the normal force
- mass
- the quantity of matter in a substance; measured in kilograms
- net external force
- the vector sum of all external forces acting on an object or system; causes a mass to accelerate
- Newton’s first law of motion
- a body at rest remains at rest, or, if in motion, remains in motion at a constant velocity unless acted on by a net external force; also known as the law of inertia
- Newton’s second law of motion
- the net external force
on an object with mass
is proportional to and in the same direction as the acceleration of the object,
, and inversely proportional to the mass; defined mathematically as
- Newton’s third law of motion
- whenever one body exerts a force on a second body, the first body experiences a force that is equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to the force that the first body exerts
- normal force
- the force that a surface applies to an object to support the weight of the object; acts perpendicular to the surface on which the object rests
- static friction
- a force that opposes the motion of two systems that are in contact and are not moving relative to one another
- system
- defined by the boundaries of an object or collection of objects being observed; all forces originating from outside of the system are considered external forces
- tension
- the pulling force that acts along a medium, especially a stretched flexible connector, such as a rope or cable; when a rope supports the weight of an object, the force on the object due to the rope is called a tension force
- thrust
- a reaction force that pushes a body forward in response to a backward force; rockets, airplanes, and cars are pushed forward by a thrust reaction force
- weight
- the force
due to gravity acting on an object of mass
; defined mathematically as:
, where
is the magnitude and direction of the acceleration due to gravity
“Chapter 4: Glossary” from College Physics 2e by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
“Chapter 5: Glossary” from College Physics 2e by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
