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Most scientific terms are based on Latin or Greek roots. See if you know which ones.
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Vocabulary of Science
english | root | root language | from | root meaning | notes |
collision |
Middle English, from Late Latin coll![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Latin | collidere | to collide | late latin from Middle English |
elastic | Latin elasticus, from Late Greek elastos | variant of Greek elatos | elaunein | beaten, ductile, | to beat out |
energy |
French énergie,
from Late Latin energ![]() |
Greek | energos | ||
force | Middle English, from Old French, from Medieval Latin, from neuter pl. . | Latin | fortia fortis |
strong | |
im·pulse | impulsus | Latin | impellere | past participle of to impel. | The product obtained by multiplying the average value of a force by the time during which it acts. The impulse equals the change in momentum produced by the force in this time interval. |
ki·net·ic | Greek k![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Greek | k![]() ![]() |
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mo·men·tum |
Latin m![]() ![]() ![]() |
A measure of the motion of a body equal to the product of its mass and velocity. Also called linear momentum. | |||
ob·serv·a·bles |
Middle English
observen, to conform to,
from Old French observer,
from Latin observ![]() ![]() |
A physical property, such as weight or temperature, that can be observed or measured directly, as distinguished from a quantity, such as work or entropy, that must be derived from observed quantities. | |||
po·ten·tial |
Middle English potencial, from Old French
potenciel, from Late Latin potenti![]() ![]() |
The work required to move a unit of positive charge, a magnetic pole, or an amount of mass from a reference point to a designated point in a static electric, magnetic, or gravitational field; potential energy. | |||
pow·er |
Middle English, from Old French pooir, to
be able, power, from Vulgar Latin *pot![]() |
The rate at which work is done, expressed as the amount of work per unit time and commonly measured in units such as the watt and horsepower.
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ve·loc·i·ty |
Middle English velocite, from Old French,
from Latin v![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
A vector quantity whose magnitude is a body's speed and whose direction is the body's direction of motion.
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work | Middle English, from Old English weorc. See werg- in Indo-European Roots |
The transfer of energy from one physical system to another, especially the transfer of energy to a body by the application of a force that moves the body in the direction of the force. It is calculated as the product of the force and the distance through which the body moves
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