Unit 6: Friction
coefficient of friction
Measurement of the "roughness" of surfaces
tension
Pull by a rope, string or cable
normal force
Push due to contact with a surface such as the ground. Always acts perpendicular to the surface
drag
Resistance due to moving through air
friction
Surface resistance
thrust
Actively pushing off air or a surface (Examples: a helicopter with spinning blades, a rocket burning fuel or a pedaling bicyclist)
acceleration
Describes an object's change in velocity each second
distance
Describes how far an object moved
weight
Gravitational pull of the earth
mass
How much stuff (protons, neutrons & electrons) an object is made of