Forces and Motion Introduction Introduction

Welcome to Physics, the science of objects’ interactions with other objects. We can’t begin the study of physics without first understanding the concept of motion. In physics, talk about motion is called kinematics. Don’t confuse this idea with cinematics, the study of motion pictures. Kinematics is the investigation of motion itself, no pictures needed.

And then there is force. Not the force, that’s another lesson young padawan. At the most basic level physics is the study of how objects interact with each other, forces—the cause of interactions among ALL objects—are the drivers of all things physics.

There we have it: kinematics studies objects’ motion, and force is the cause of that motion.

Without mastering kinematics, we can’t move. At all. We’ve already mastered motion on an experiential level, now let’s master it on a theoretical level. How do we catch a fly ball, cruise on a bicycle, or know the maximum we can lean back in our desk chairs before gravity takes over?

It’s time to talk about all that and more, via the motion of the necessaries in physics classes: apples, planets, orbits and cannonballs.