P2 Forces Definitions:
Acceleration due to gravity- the acceleration, g, experienced by an object travelling in
free-fall. Its value at the surface of Earth is 10 m/s².
Acceleration- the rate of change of velocity.
Balanced forces- a resultant force of zero.
Centripetal force- the resultant force that acts towards the centre of the circular path
of an object travelling with circular motion.
Circular motion- the motion of an object travelling in a circle. An object travelling in
circular motion is always accelerating due its continual direction change.
Contact force- a force that acts on an object through physical contact.
Displacement- a measure of how far an object moves in a given direction. It is a vector
quantity.
Distance-time graph- a plot of how an object’s distance changes over time.
Distance- a measure of how far an object moves. It is a scalar quantity.
Distortion- the changing of an object’s size or shape as a result of a deforming force.
Elastic deformation- non-permanent deformation; the object will return to its
original shape when the deforming forces are removed.
Elastic limit- the force beyond which an object will no longer deform elastically, and will
instead deform plastically.
Electric field- a region where a charge will experience a non-contact electrostatic force.
Force field- a region where an object will experience a non-contact force.
Free-fall- a motion under the force of gravity alone.
Friction- a resistive contact force that acts to oppose the relative motion between two
surfaces.
Gears- a simple mechanism that can transmit the rotational effect of a force. They can act
as force multipliers.
Gravitational field- a region where a mass will experience a non-contact gravitational force.
All matter produces a gravitational field around it, and the greater its mass, the stronger the
field.
Gravitational force- a force that all matter experiences when placed in a gravitational field.
This force is always attractive.
Hooke’s Law- the extension of a spring is directly proportional to the force applied to it, up
to the limit of proportionality. The constant in this relationship is known as the spring
constant.
Hydraulic lift- a system that can act as a force multiplier by connecting two platforms with
different areas by a fluid. The pressure in the fluid is the same throughout and so the
platform with the smaller area experiences a greater force.
Inertial mass- a measure of how hard it is to change an object’s velocity.
Lever- a simple mechanism that can act as a force multiplier.
Limit of Proportionality- the point beyond which the extension of an elastic object is no
longer directly proportional to the force applied to it.
Magnetic field- a region where a magnetic material will experience a non-contact magnetic
force.
Moment- the turning effect of a force
Newton’s First Law- if a stationary object’s resultant force is zero, the object will remain
stationary. If a moving object’s resultant force is zero, the object will continue to move at a
Acceleration due to gravity- the acceleration, g, experienced by an object travelling in
free-fall. Its value at the surface of Earth is 10 m/s².
Acceleration- the rate of change of velocity.
Balanced forces- a resultant force of zero.
Centripetal force- the resultant force that acts towards the centre of the circular path
of an object travelling with circular motion.
Circular motion- the motion of an object travelling in a circle. An object travelling in
circular motion is always accelerating due its continual direction change.
Contact force- a force that acts on an object through physical contact.
Displacement- a measure of how far an object moves in a given direction. It is a vector
quantity.
Distance-time graph- a plot of how an object’s distance changes over time.
Distance- a measure of how far an object moves. It is a scalar quantity.
Distortion- the changing of an object’s size or shape as a result of a deforming force.
Elastic deformation- non-permanent deformation; the object will return to its
original shape when the deforming forces are removed.
Elastic limit- the force beyond which an object will no longer deform elastically, and will
instead deform plastically.
Electric field- a region where a charge will experience a non-contact electrostatic force.
Force field- a region where an object will experience a non-contact force.
Free-fall- a motion under the force of gravity alone.
Friction- a resistive contact force that acts to oppose the relative motion between two
surfaces.
Gears- a simple mechanism that can transmit the rotational effect of a force. They can act
as force multipliers.
Gravitational field- a region where a mass will experience a non-contact gravitational force.
All matter produces a gravitational field around it, and the greater its mass, the stronger the
field.
Gravitational force- a force that all matter experiences when placed in a gravitational field.
This force is always attractive.
Hooke’s Law- the extension of a spring is directly proportional to the force applied to it, up
to the limit of proportionality. The constant in this relationship is known as the spring
constant.
Hydraulic lift- a system that can act as a force multiplier by connecting two platforms with
different areas by a fluid. The pressure in the fluid is the same throughout and so the
platform with the smaller area experiences a greater force.
Inertial mass- a measure of how hard it is to change an object’s velocity.
Lever- a simple mechanism that can act as a force multiplier.
Limit of Proportionality- the point beyond which the extension of an elastic object is no
longer directly proportional to the force applied to it.
Magnetic field- a region where a magnetic material will experience a non-contact magnetic
force.
Moment- the turning effect of a force
Newton’s First Law- if a stationary object’s resultant force is zero, the object will remain
stationary. If a moving object’s resultant force is zero, the object will continue to move at a
