Motion Reflection

"Now that you have completed the unit, what do you know about motion compared to when you started? How do things move?"

After the motion unit, I have gained more knowledge in physics on motion. For example, when we started, I wasn't able to comprehensively reflect on the background information of motion, and how objects moves. Now I understand how to determine if an object is in motion: using a reference point, which can be any object, to compare with the other object. Now to put the meaning of motion into words: an object is in motion if it's distance from another object, preferably a stationary reference point, is changing. Determining whether an object is in motion or not can differ depending on the reference point, or what the object is relative to. For example, a book sitting on a table with reference to the table, or relative to the table, is not in motion because the distance between the two objects is not changing. If you look at the object with a different perspective and use a different reference point, for instance the sun, you would say that the book is in motion because, the book that is located on Earth, is rotating around the sun, changing position in reference to the sun. Along with studying motion, the unit built up and tied in with speed, velocity, and acceleration, which are used to describe objects in motion. Speed calculate the distance traveled per unit of time, and speed in a given direction is velocity. Acceleration is the rate at which velocity changes, and an object can accelerate in the following ways: increasing speed, decreasing speed, and changing direction. To organize all this information and shows the connections between each of the terms, we created Mind Maps. My mind map and all its colors and shapes helped me get my thoughts straight and also were a good studying tool. In conclusion, my knowledge on motion has increased majorly and now, at the end of the unit, I clearly understand how to explain motion and how to measure it.

Sarah Amer