PHS cP1 Motion keywords

A quantity that has a magnitude (size) but not a direction. Examples include mass, distance, energy and speed.

• scalar

• vector

A quantity that has both a size and a direction.Examples include force, velocity, displacement, momentum and acceleration

• scalar

• vector

A measure of how quickly the velocity of something is changing. It can be positive if the object is speeding up or negative if it is slowing down.

• average speed

• velocity

• acceleration

• speeding up

The size of something, such as the size of a force or the measurement of a distance.

• displacement

• measurement

• magnitude

• volume

A way of describing the steepness of a line on a graph in numbers. It is calculated by taking the vertical distance between two points and dividing by the horizontal distance between the same two points.

• gradient

• tangent

• curve

• line of best fit

The speed worked out from the total distance travelled divided by the total time taken for a journey.

speed = distance travelled ÷ time

• velocity

• average speed

• acceleration

• total speed

The distance travelled in a particular direction. This is a vector, distance is not.

• total distance

• displacement

• velocity

• dimension

The speed of an object in a particular direction. Usually measured in metres per second (m/s). This is a vector, speed is not.

• average speed

• acceleration

• displacement

• velocity

A measure of the distance an object travels in a given time. Usually measured in metres per second (m/s). It is a scalar quantity

• velocity

• speed

• acceleration

• displacement