What is Position?

A position is the location of an object, or where the object is located.

What is Motion?

Motion is a change in position over time. Motion consists of distance and direction. Distance is how far and object moved. Direction is where the position was facing(North, South, East, West).

Frame of Reference

A frame of reference is an object that can be used to describe the position of an object. For example, If the computer mouse is right of the keyboard, the frame of reference is the keyboard.

Perspective

Different frames of references see things differently. In the frame of reference of the inside of a moving car, everything that passes you seems to be moving. Outside of the car, the car seems to be moving.

What is Speed?

Speed is the distance traveled by an object divided by the time it takes to travel that distance.

S = D/T

Below are two ways to write the speed of a cheetah running

S = 30 meters/second

S = 70 miles/ hour

Velocity

Velocity is speed in a specific direction. The velocity of a cheetah running north at high speed is 70 miles/ hour N.

 

What is Acceleration?

The acceleration of an object is it’s change in velocity over time.

Calculating Acceleration

A=change in speed / time

A= (70 miles/60 min)/1 min

A= 70 mph/min

What is Momentum?

Momentum is the mass of an object multiplied by it’s velocity.

Calculating Momentum