General Science Forces and Energy Flash Card Set 550639

Cards 10
Focus Forces and Energy
Topics Force, Kinetic Energy, Magnetism, Mass vs. Weight, Power, Weight, Work

Study Guide

Force

Force is applied to change an object's speed or direction of motion.

Kinetic Energy

Kinetic energy is the energy posessed by a moving object. Potential energy is stored energy in a stationary object based on its location, position, shape, or state.

Magnetism

Simple magnets have two poles, north and south, and opposite poles attract each other (N attracts S, S attracts N). Likewise, the same pole of two magnets repel (N repels N, S repels S). The Earth has a magnetic field and North and South Poles which enables the use of a magnetic compass to determine direction.

Mass vs. Weight

Mass is the amount of matter something has while weight is the force exerted on an object's mass by gravity. So, although a person's mass doesn't change when going from the Earth to the Moon, their weight will decrease because the force of the Moon's gravity is much less than that of Earth.

Power

Power is the rate at which work is performed or work per unit time: \(P = {w \over t}\) and is measured in watts (W).

Weight

Weight is a force that describes the attraction of gravity on an object. Force is measured in newtons (N) with 1 N being the force required to impart an acceleration of 1 m/s2 to a mass of 1 kg.

Work

Work is performed on an object when an applied force causes displacement along the same vector. Measured in joules (J) or newton-meters (Nm), work is calculated by multiplying force times displacement: \(W = \vec{F}\vec{d}\)