Download Learning Set 2 Vocabulary With Definitions (Study for test)

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Vehicles in Motion
Learning Set Two
Vocabulary
Propulsion System – A set of parts that produce a force to make an object move forward
Work – when a force exerted on an object causes the object to move in the same direction as the
force.
Energy – the capacity to move something from an at rest position. Energy has many different
forms.
Kinetic Energy – The energy associated with an object in motion.
Potential Energy – The energy that is stored in an object as a result of its position or condition
Variable – A quantity whose value may change (vary) over the course of an experiment
Independent Variable (Manipulated) – in an experiment, a variable whose value is manipulated,
or changed, by the experimenter, to observe its effects on another variable
Dependent Variable (Responding) – in an experiment, a variable whose value changes when the
value of the independent variable is changed.
Controlled Variables – In an experiment, the variables that are kept the same each time the
procedure is performed.
Hypothesis – a prediction of what will happen between an independent variable and a dependent
variable.
Trend – A general direction in which something tends to change; also, the way the dependent
variable tends to change when the independent variable is changed
Action Force – a force exerted by one object on a second object
Reaction Force – the equal, but opposite, force exerted by the second object back on the first object
in response to an action force
Contact Force – A force that acts between two objects that are directly touching. The normal force
is an example of a contact force.
Non-Contact Force – A force that acts between objects that are not touching. Gravity is an
example of a non-contact force.
Spring Scale – a toll used by scientists to measure the size (magnitude) of a force by how much it
stretches a spring
Newton (N) – A unit of measurement for forces.
Weightless – having little or no apparent gravitational pull
Mass – the amount of matter in an object
Weight – the force of an object due to gravity
Attraction – the force that draws objects together
Newton’s First Law of Motion – an object at rest will remain at rest and an object in motion will
remain in at a constant speed in the same direction unless an unbalanced force acts on it.
Newton’s Second Law of Motion – the acceleration of an object depends on the magnitude of the
net force acting on it and the mass of the object.
Newton’s Third Law of Motion – for every force exerted on an object a force that is equal in
magnitude and opposite in direction is also exerted by the object