AP physics - Chapter 1

Motion

The change of an object's position or orientation with time

What are some examples of motion?

Bicycles, cars, baseball, airplanes

Trajectory

The path along which an object move, which might be straight or curved

What are the basic types of motion?

Straight-line motion, Circular motion, Projectile motion, and Rotational motion

Motion diagram

A series of images showing the positions of a moving object at equal time intervals

Operational definitions

The concepts are defined in terms of a procedure or operation preformed by the investigator

How are many concepts in physics introduced

Operational definitions

Particle

An object that can represent as a mass at a single point in space

A particle doesn't have what?

A particle has no size, no shape, and no distinction between top and bottom or between front and back

Model

A particle

Particle model

A simplification in which we treat a moving object as if its mass were concentrated at a single point

Position

Your position at a particular moment in time

Origin

A fixed point

Coordinate System

An origin and an axis marked by both the positive and negative directions

Coordinate

The symbol that represents the position along an axis

Displacement

A change in position

Time intervals

Changes in time

Uniform motion

When an object neither speeding up nor slowing down

What is the equation for speed?

speed=(distance traveled in a given time interval)/(time interval)

Velocity

A vector quantity that includes the speed and direction of an object.

What is the equation for velocity?

velocity= (displacement/time interval)=?x/?t

Fact 1

Speed measures how fast an object moves, but velocity tells us both an object's and its direction

Significant figures

The number of digits that are important

Conversion factor

A ratio of values equal to 1

Order-of-magnitude estimate

One-significant-figure estimate or calculation

Scalar quantity

When a physical quantity is described by a single number

Vector quantity

A quantity that has both size and direction

Magnitude

The size or length of a vector

Displacement vector

Since displacement is a quality that has both size and direction

Fact 2

An object's displacement vector is drawn from the object's initial position to its final position regardless to the actual path followed between the two points

Velocity vector

Points in the direction of the object's motion, and whose magnitude is the object's speed

Fact 3

An object's velocity vector points in the same direction as its displacement vector

Atomic model

A model of how the atoms are made