Skip to Content Go to accessibility page Keyboard shortcuts menu

College Physics

Glossary

College PhysicsGlossary

angular velocity: $ω$ , the rate of change of the angle with which an object moves on a circular path

arc length: $Δ s$ , the distance traveled by an object along a circular path

banked curve: the curve in a road that is sloping in a manner that helps a vehicle negotiate the curve

center of mass: the point where the entire mass of an object can be thought to be concentrated

centrifugal force: a fictitious force that tends to throw an object off when the object is rotating in a non-inertial frame of reference

centripetal acceleration: the acceleration of an object moving in a circle, directed toward the center

centripetal force: any net force causing uniform circular motion

Coriolis force: the fictitious force causing the apparent deflection of moving objects when viewed in a rotating frame of reference

fictitious force: a force having no physical origin

gravitational constant, G: a proportionality factor used in the equation for Newton’s universal law of gravitation; it is a universal constant—that is, it is thought to be the same everywhere in the universe

ideal angle: the angle at which a car can turn safely on a steep curve, which is in proportion to the ideal speed

ideal banking: the sloping of a curve in a road, where the angle of the slope allows the vehicle to negotiate the curve at a certain speed without the aid of friction between the tires and the road; the net external force on the vehicle equals the horizontal centripetal force in the absence of friction

ideal speed: the maximum safe speed at which a vehicle can turn on a curve without the aid of friction between the tire and the road

microgravity: an environment in which the apparent net acceleration of a body is small compared with that produced by Earth at its surface

Newton’s universal law of gravitation: every particle in the universe attracts every other particle with a force along a line joining them; the force is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them

non-inertial frame of reference: an accelerated frame of reference

pit: a tiny indentation on the spiral track moulded into the top of the polycarbonate layer of CD

radians: a unit of angle measurement

radius of curvature: radius of a circular path

rotation angle: the ratio of the arc length to the radius of curvature on a circular path: $Δ θ = \frac{Δ s}{r}$

ultracentrifuge: a centrifuge optimized for spinning a rotor at very high speeds

uniform circular motion: the motion of an object in a circular path at constant speed

Order a print copy

Citation/Attribution

This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's permission.

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute OpenStax.

Attribution information

If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/college-physics/pages/1-introduction-to-science-and-the-realm-of-physics-physical-quantities-and-units
If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a digital format, then you must include on every digital page view the following attribution:
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/college-physics/pages/1-introduction-to-science-and-the-realm-of-physics-physical-quantities-and-units

Citation information

Use the information below to generate a citation. We recommend using a citation tool such as this one.
- Authors: Paul Peter Urone, Roger Hinrichs
- Publisher/website: OpenStax
- Book title: College Physics
- Publication date: Jun 21, 2012
- Location: Houston, Texas
- Book URL: https://openstax.org/books/college-physics/pages/1-introduction-to-science-and-the-realm-of-physics-physical-quantities-and-units
- Section URL: https://openstax.org/books/college-physics/pages/6-glossary

© Mar 3, 2022 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.