Force and Motion Booklet

Motion An object’s change in position respect to a reference point You know an object has moved when it is in a different position than where it was

Distance vs. Displacement An object’s distance is the length of the path that was taken, the displacement is the shortest path between the starting and ending point

Newton’s 1st Law An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by an outside force The black cat will remain at rest until the grey cat lands on it. The grey cat will continue its’ motion until it lands on the floor. The quarter will remain at rest unless the force of friction moves it. If the paper is pulled out fast enough, the quarter will fall into the glass.

Newton’s 2nd Law Force = mass x acceleration; The amount of force needed to move an object depends on how much mass it has and how much you want it to accelerate. How much force is needed to move this car? The rock with the larger mass requires more force to move.

Newton’s 3rd Law For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Speed the rate at which someone or something moves or travels Speed = Distance / Time Turtles are slow. They go a short distance over a long period of time. This driving was going over the speed limit. He was covering a large distance in a short time. The player’s speed is 28.17 ft per second or 19.2 miles per hour

Velocity the rate and direction at which someone or something moves or travels The only difference between speed and velocity is that velocity has direction The speed of these cars may be constant, but their velocity is changing.

Acceleration A change in velocity Acceleration is speeding up, slowing down or changing direction Volleyball players apply a force to accelerate the ball. Roller coasters frequently accelerate.

Balanced and Unbalanced Forces When forces are balanced, there is no change in motion. When forces are unbalanced, there is a change in motion (acceleration) If forces are balanced, dogs will not move If forces are unbalanced, both dogs will move in the direction of the greater force.

Net Force the overall force acting on an object The net force is 3 N to the right The net force on the purple box is 0 N