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Motion, Forces & Energy

NGSS Disciplinary Core Ideas

PS2.A: Forces and Motion

For any pair of interacting objects, the force exerted by the first object on the second object is equal in strength to the force that the second object exerts on the first, but in the opposite direction (Newton’s third law).

PS2.A: Forces and Motion

The motion of an object is determined by the sum of the forces acting on it; if the total force on the object is not zero, its motion will change. The greater the mass of the object, the greater the force needed to achieve the same change in motion. For any given object, a larger force causes a larger change in motion.

*PS3.C: Relationship Between Energy and Forces

When two objects interact, each one exerts a force on the other that can cause energy to be transferred to or from the object.

PS3.A: Definitions of Energy

Motion energy is properly called kinetic energy; it is proportional to the mass of the moving object and grows with the square of its speed.

A system of objects may also contain stored (potential) energy, depending on their relative positions.

PS2.B: Types of Interactions

Gravitational forces are always attractive. There is a gravitational force between any two masses, but it is very small except when one or both of the objects have large mass—e.g., Earth and the sun.

Motion an Forces

Waves and Their Application in Technolgoy

NGSS Disciplinary Core ideas

PS4.B: Electromagnetic Radiation

When light shines on an object, it is reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through the object, depending on the object’s material and the frequency (color) of the light.

 

The path that light travels can be traced as straight lines, except at surfaces between different transparent materials (e.g., air and water, air and glass) where the light path bends.

 

A wave model of light is useful for explaining brightness, color, and the frequency-dependent bending of light at a surface between media.

 

However, because light can travel through space, it cannot be a matter wave, like sound or water waves.

PS4.A: Wave Properties

A sound wave needs a medium through which it is transmitted.

PS4.C: Information Technologies and Instrumentation

Digitized signals (sent as wave pulses) are a more reliable way to encode and transmit information.

PS4.A: Wave Properties

A simple wave has a repeating pattern with a specific wavelength, frequency, and amplitude.

Waves

Magnetism and Electricity

NGSS Disciplinary Core ideas

PS2.B: Types of Interactions

Forces that act at a distance (electric, magnetic, and gravitational) can be explained by fields that extend through space and can be mapped by their effect on a test object (a charged object, or a ball, respectively).

PS2.B: Types of Interactions

Electric and magnetic (electromagnetic) forces can be attractive or repulsive, and their sizes depend on the magnitudes of the charges, currents, or magnetic strengths involved and on the distances between the interacting objects.

Magnetism
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