Force & Motion

Motion, Force and Mass Vocabulary

Position: The location of an object. Described by an object’s position by saying where it is compared to with another object.

Motion: an object changing position over time; change in position is measured by distance and time.

Distance: How far an object travels

Direction: the path that a moving object follows

Speed: a measure of how far an object moves in a certain amount of time; how fast or slowly an object moves. Speed = distance / Time

Force: Any push or pull on an object

Mass: the amount of matter that makes up an object

Matter: anything that has mass and takes up space. All matter has mass.

Gravity: a force that pulls objects toward each other. The most common example is gravity pulling objects towards the ground.

Friction: a force that acts between surfaces that touch each other. Friction tends to slow an object’s motion. Friction causes heat.

Air Resistance: acts against the pull of gravity to slow a moving object

Inertia: a property of matter by which it continues in its existing state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line, unless that state is changed by an external force.

Potential Energy-stored energy. The energy that a ball has when perched at a top of a steep hill while it is about to roll down is an example of potential energy.

Kinetic Energy-energy in motion. Observable by the movement of an object. A person walking, a thrown baseball, a crumb falling from a table.