Free Fall

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Free Fall Noun

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[free fawl]

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Free Fall

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The motion of an object where gravity is the only significant force acting upon it, with air resistance being negligible.

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Example: An apple falls from a branch, pulled downward only by the force of gravity, illustrating the concept of free fall.

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Gravity Noun

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[grav-i-tee]

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Gravity

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The universal force of attraction acting between all matter, which on Earth pulls objects toward the planet's center.

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Example: This image shows that gravity is a force of attraction between two objects with mass, but it does not illustrate the concept of free fall.

Front

Air Resistance Noun

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[air re-zis-tuhns]

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Air Resistance

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A type of friction force that opposes the motion of objects as they move through the air, also known as drag.

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Example: This image shows a feather and a coin being dropped. The labeled arrows illustrate that the upward force of air resistance significantly slows the feather's fall compared to the coin.

Front

Acceleration Noun

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[ak-sel-uh-rey-shuhn]

Back

Acceleration

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The rate at which an object's velocity changes over time, which is a vector quantity having magnitude and direction.

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Example: This image shows that acceleration is any change in velocity, including speeding up, slowing down, or changing direction.

Front

Free-fall Acceleration Noun

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[free fawl ak-sel-uh-rey-shuhn]

Back

Free-fall Acceleration

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The constant acceleration of an object in free fall due to Earth's gravity, which is approximately 9.8 m/s².

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Example: This diagram shows an object dropped from a cliff. For each second that passes, its downward velocity increases by a constant amount (9.8 m/s).

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Velocity Noun

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[vuh-los-i-tee]

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Velocity

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A vector quantity signifying the rate of change of an object's position, encompassing both its speed and its direction.

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Example: This image shows the mathematical relationship between velocity, displacement, and time using a formula triangle, a tool for calculating constant velocity.

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Displacement Noun

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[dis-pleys-muhnt]

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Displacement

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The overall change in an object's position, measured as a straight line from its starting point to its ending point.

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Example: This diagram shows displacement as the change in position from an initial point (x₀) to a final point (x_f) along an axis.

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Vacuum Noun

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[vak-yoom]

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Vacuum

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A space from which all matter, including air, has been removed, creating an environment with zero air resistance.

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Example: The vacuum of space is a region with almost no matter, which is represented by the stars and blackness surrounding the cartoon vacuum cleaner.

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Mass Noun

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[mas]

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Mass

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The measure of the amount of matter in an object, which does not affect the rate of free-fall acceleration.

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Example: This image shows a balance scale comparing an apple to a 1-gram weight, illustrating that different objects have different amounts of mass.

Front

Force Noun

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[fohrs]

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Force

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An interaction, such as a push or a pull, that has the capacity to change an object's state of motion.

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Example: This image shows a hand releasing a basketball, which then falls downwards due to the force of gravity, demonstrating the concept of free fall.