Motion and Graphs flashcards

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What is position?Position, Reference Frames, and Displacement: A location relative to an origin and coordinate system.
What is an origin?Position, Reference Frames, and Displacement: A chosen zero point for position.
What is a reference frame?Position, Reference Frames, and Displacement: The viewpoint and coordinate system used to describe motion.
Does a negative coordinate mean negative distance?Position, Reference Frames, and Displacement: No; it indicates a side of the chosen origin.
What is distance traveled?Position, Reference Frames, and Displacement: Total length of a path, regardless of direction.
What is displacement?Position, Reference Frames, and Displacement: Final position minus initial position, with direction.
What is the displacement formula in one dimension?Position, Reference Frames, and Displacement: Δx = x_f − x_i.
Can displacement be zero after moving?Position, Reference Frames, and Displacement: Yes, if final and initial positions match.
What is a scalar?Position, Reference Frames, and Displacement: A quantity described by magnitude and unit without direction.
What is a vector?Position, Reference Frames, and Displacement: A quantity with magnitude and direction.
Is displacement a vector?Position, Reference Frames, and Displacement: Yes.
Is distance traveled a scalar?Position, Reference Frames, and Displacement: Yes.
What is average speed?Speed and Velocity: Total distance traveled divided by total elapsed time.
What are common speed units?Speed and Velocity: m/s and km/h.
Is average speed a scalar?Speed and Velocity: Yes.
Why is a mean of segment speeds often wrong?Speed and Velocity: Segments may cover different times or distances.
What is average velocity?Speed and Velocity: Displacement divided by elapsed time.
What is the one-dimensional formula?Speed and Velocity: v_avg = Δx/Δt.
What does a negative average velocity mean?Speed and Velocity: Net displacement in the negative chosen direction.
Can average speed be positive when average velocity is zero?Speed and Velocity: Yes, on a round trip.
What is instantaneous speed?Speed and Velocity: Speed at a particular moment, estimated over a short interval.
What is instantaneous velocity?Speed and Velocity: Rate and direction of position change at a moment.
What does a speedometer approximate?Speed and Velocity: Near-instantaneous speed.
Can velocity change at constant speed?Speed and Velocity: Yes, if direction changes.
What is acceleration?Acceleration: Rate of change of velocity.
What is average acceleration?Acceleration: Change in velocity divided by elapsed time.
What are acceleration SI units?Acceleration: m/s².
Does negative acceleration always mean slowing?Acceleration: No; compare acceleration with velocity direction.
When does speed increase in straight-line motion?Acceleration: When velocity and acceleration point the same way.
When does speed decrease?Acceleration: When they point opposite ways before a reversal.
What is the constant-acceleration velocity relation?Acceleration: v_f = v_i + aΔt.
Can an object accelerate while turning at steady speed?Acceleration: Yes; direction change is velocity change.
What is ideal free fall?Acceleration: Motion under gravity alone with negligible air resistance.
What is g near Earth’s surface?Acceleration: About 9.8 m/s² downward.
What is vertical velocity at the peak of a toss?Acceleration: Zero for an instant.
What is acceleration at the peak?Acceleration: Still downward, approximately g under the model.
What is position–time slope?Position–Time Graphs: Change in position divided by elapsed time.
What does a rising straight line mean?Position–Time Graphs: Constant positive velocity.
What does a horizontal line mean?Position–Time Graphs: Position is constant in the chosen frame.
What does the vertical intercept represent?Position–Time Graphs: Position predicted at time zero.
How is graph displacement found?Position–Time Graphs: Final position minus initial position.
How is path distance found from monotonic pieces?Position–Time Graphs: Sum absolute position changes across pieces.
What marks a reversal on a position–time graph?Position–Time Graphs: Slope changing sign.
What does a flat segment indicate?Position–Time Graphs: Rest in the chosen reference frame.
What is a secant slope?Position–Time Graphs: Slope between two points, giving interval-average velocity.
What is a tangent slope?Position–Time Graphs: Local slope estimating instantaneous velocity.
What does a rising curve that flattens mean?Position–Time Graphs: Positive velocity that decreases.
Is graph height equal to speed?Position–Time Graphs: No; height is position on a position–time graph.
What is velocity–time slope?Velocity–Time Graphs and Motion Problems: Change in velocity divided by elapsed time.
What does a horizontal velocity line mean?Velocity–Time Graphs and Motion Problems: Constant velocity and zero acceleration.
What are slope units on a v–t graph?Velocity–Time Graphs and Motion Problems: m/s².
When does reversal occur on a v–t graph?Velocity–Time Graphs and Motion Problems: When velocity crosses zero and changes sign.
What does signed v–t area give?Velocity–Time Graphs and Motion Problems: Displacement over the chosen interval.
What does absolute area give piecewise?Velocity–Time Graphs and Motion Problems: Distance traveled when absolute contributions are summed.
What are v–t area units?Velocity–Time Graphs and Motion Problems: Meters when velocity is m/s and time is s.
What is triangular area?Velocity–Time Graphs and Motion Problems: One-half base multiplied by height.
How do x–t and v–t graphs connect?Velocity–Time Graphs and Motion Problems: The x–t slope is the corresponding velocity.
What does v–t slope describe?Velocity–Time Graphs and Motion Problems: Acceleration.
What does signed v–t area describe?Velocity–Time Graphs and Motion Problems: Displacement.
Can position be negative while velocity is positive?Velocity–Time Graphs and Motion Problems: Yes, left of origin and moving in the positive direction.