kinematics

Within physics, kinematics is the science of the movement of things, essentially finding the characteristics and patterns of movements. Dynamics is the science that additionally includes the physical mechanisms that produce these movements. A prime example is Kepler's laws (kinematics, i.e., the movements that comprise orbits) versus Newton's laws (dynamics, i.e., the forces and laws of physics that produce those orbits). The kinematics of an object refers to the patterns of its motion, such as its orbit, velocity, acceleration, etc. In general, when attempting to reveal the dynamics of a system (e.g., of a multiple star system or planetary system), the patterns of movement must first be worked out, i.e., its kinematics.