Year 10 Motion and Forces – Glossary

1. acceleration change in speed or direction of movement; often

measured in metres/second/
second (m/s/s)

2. chemical potential energy energy stored in bonds between atoms or

molecules

3. elastic potential energy energy stored in a stretched object. A

stretched rubber band has
more potential energy than an unstretched rubber band.

4. force push or pull that causes an object to move faster or slower or to

change its direction of movement. See below, the different types of
Forces.

5. friction force that opposes the motion of an object when it moves over a
surface

6. g-force a unit of force equal to the force exerted by gravity.

7. gravitational potential energy energy stored in a raised object. A

higher object has more
potential energy than a lower object.

8. gravity force of attraction between any two objects, noticeable when at

least one of them is enormously massive, like the Earth. Acceleration due
to gravity on Earth (g) is 9.8 m/s/s.

9. inertia the tendency of a body or object to continue doing what it is

doing (reluctant to change) . If it is at rest, it will remain at rest. If it is
moving, it will continue moving at the same speed in a straight line
unless acted on by an external force. This also refers as Newton’s 1st
Law.

10. joule (J) standard SI unit for measuring energy kinetic energy (KE)
energy contained in a moving object.

11. Law of Conservation of Energy law in physics that says that

energy cannot be created or destroyed, only changed from one form to
another monitors meters or other measuring devices

12. net force resulting force when two (or more) forces are combined.
In a vector parallelogram, the net force is represented by the diagonal. A
force can be represented by an arrow of a particular length pointing in
the direction of the force.

13. newton (N) standard SI unit for measuring force.

14. Newton’s 2nd Law = Law of Acceleration - This law states that
the force of an object is proportional to the mass and it's acceleration or
F = ma.

15. Newton’s 3rd Law = Law of Action and Reaction - Forces always
occur in pairs. If object A exerts a force F on object B, then object B
exerts an equal and opposite force –F on object A. "Every action has an
equal and opposite reaction"

16. potential energy (PE) energy stored within a physical system.

There are many forms of
potential energy, such as gravitational, elastic and chemical.

17. SI units units accepted as the standard or common unit for

science. SI stands for Système
Internationale or international system. (Imperial System = old
measurement system used by British before 1995, similar to the US
system, Americans use pounds, ounces, miles.

18. speed distance travelled in a unit of time, where direction is

disregarded; usually measured in metres/second (m/s) or kilometres/hour
(km/h). It is a scalar quantity – only having magnitude but no direction.
Displacement is the vector that specifies the change in position of a point
or a particle in reference to a previous position

19. vector quantity vector method of representing any quantity that

has both size and direction.

20. vector triangle triangle where two adjacent sides are vectors
placed end to end (representing forces). The third side is the net force.

21. velocity speed in a particular direction; represented by letter v.

Different types of Forces:

22. FF = FRICTION = force due to a surface rubbing against another

surface. The direction of the force is parallel to the surfaces, and is
opposite the direction of the motion or attempted motion.

23. FA = APPLIED FORCE = a force exerted by choice, such as a person

pushing or pulling. The magnitude and direction of the force are up to the
person exerting it.

24. FN = NORMAL FORCE = the force of two surfaces pressing against

each other. The force is perpendicular to the surfaces. (The word normal
has a technical meaning here, synonymous with perpendicular.) The
magnitude of the normal force is just enough to keep the two objects
from passing through each other.

25. FT = TENSION = the pull exerted by a stretched rope, string or

 chain. The direction is always a pull (not a push), and parallel to the
rope/string/chain.

26. Fg = WEIGHT, also known as the force of gravity. Direction is, by

definition, downwards.

27. FB = BUOYANCY = an upwards force due to a greater pressure on

the bottom of an object than on the top, for an object immersed in a
fluid.

28. FD = DRAG = the force of resistance as an object moves through a

gas (for example, air) or liquid (like water).

29. FTH = THRUST = the force due to a rocket or jet engine ejecting hot
gases.

30. FL = LIFT = the force produced by an airplane wing or helicopter

rotor. Lift and thrust are essentially the same principle (see the
discussion of Newton’s Third Law of Motion) but the differing names are
traditional.