Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Describing Motion with Words


The next set of lessons focus on the physics of motion. As you learn the language, principles, and laws which describe and explain the motion of objects, your efforts should center around internalizing the meaning of the information. Avoid memorizing the information; and avoid abstracting the information from the physical world which it describes and explains. Rather, contemplate the information, thinking about its meaning and its applications.

Kinematics is the science of describing the motion of objects using words, diagrams, numbers, graphs, and equations. The goal of any study of kinematics is to develop sophisticated mental models which serve to describe (and ultimately, explain) the motion of real-world objects.
This lesson will investigate the words used to describe the motion of objects – that is, the language of kinematics. The words listed below are often used to describe the motion of objects. Your goal is to become very familiar with their meanings. You may click on any word now to investigate its meaning or you may proceed with the lesson, in the order listed on the left of this page, by clicking the NEXT link below.


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