kinematics

This term describes the purely geometric description of motion, focusing on displacement, velocity, and acceleration. It deliberately ignores the mass of the objects and the forces, such as gravity or friction, that trigger the movement. This distinguishes it from kinetics, which specifically analyzes the causes of motion.

Grammatically, the word follows the pattern of many academic disciplines ending in -ics (like physics or mathematics). While it looks plural due to the final s, it is treated as a singular noun when referring to the field of study, meaning it takes a singular verb in a sentence.