Physics and Movement Words

Vocabulary Their Way (United States of America)
These twelve words come from the scientific field of physics and all have something to do with movement. These are just a few of the words you can learn by using “Vocabulary Their Way: Words and Strategies for Academic Success.” Click here to learn more about the program.
12 words 32 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. buoyant
    tending to float on a liquid or rise in air or gas
    “Those tanks become buoyant in all that water,” he said.
  2. centripetal
    tending to move toward an area in the middle
    The centripetal and centrifugal forces acting in opposition to each other keep our planet in her orbit. Simpson, A. B. (Albert B.)
  3. circuit
    an electrical device providing a path for current to flow
    Electrical fires are common in Sierra Leone, where chaotic wiring, fluctuations in current, and overloading of circuits using multiple adaptors all pose fire risks.
  4. diffraction
    process by which light changes passing through a narrow slit
    Electrons, being waves as well as particles, produce a diffraction pattern when transmitted through a crystal.
  5. diffusion
    movement of a substance from an area of high concentration
    In addition, through the so-called diffusion effect, people living in communities without fluoridated water wind up consuming it in drinks and foods prepared elsewhere. New York Times (Jan 23, 2012)
  6. inertia
    the tendency of something to stay in rest or motion
    There are long moments of inertia and silence; then the rolling begins again. New York Times (Jun 14, 2011)
  7. kinetic
    relating to the motion of material bodies and their forces
    Pavegen is not alone in harvesting human kinetic energy to generate electricity. Scientific American (Apr 20, 2013)
  8. mechanics
    the branch of physics concerned with the motion of bodies
    This means manufacturers can embed complicated mechanics directly into products’ circuitry, while adding almost no weight, volume, energy consumption or conspicuousness.
  9. momentum
    the product of a body's mass and its velocity
    Residential construction is expected to have gained further momentum after notching a 13.5 percent growth pace in the third quarter.
  10. newton
    force imparting acceleration of 1 m/sec/sec to 1 kilogram
    In that work, published in Applied Physics Letters, Dubrovinskaia and her colleagues presented data from Vickers testing with loads of up to 10 newtons. Scientific American (Jan 17, 2013)
  11. refraction
    the change in direction of a propagating wave
    Thus, thanks to atmospheric refraction, the length of daylight on any given day is increased by approximately six or seven minutes. Scientific American (Mar 19, 2012)
  12. ultraviolet
    having wavelengths shorter than light but longer than X-rays
    Generally speaking, however, ozone absorbs ultraviolet radiation and therefore warms the atmosphere.
Created on Mon Aug 26 13:42:13 EDT 2013 (updated Fri Sep 06 12:30:59 EDT 2013)

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