Jounce

Description

In physics, jounce or snap is the fourth derivative of the position vector with respect to time, with the first, second, and third derivatives being velocity, acceleration, and jerk, respectively; hence, the jounce is the rate of change of the jerk with respect to time.

The notation is not to be confused with the displacement vector commonly denoted similarly. Currently, there are no well-accepted designations for the derivatives of
jounce. The fourth, fifth and sixth derivatives of position as a function of time are “sometimes somewhat facetiously” referred to as Snap, Crackle and Pop respectively. Because
higher-order derivatives are not commonly useful, there has been no consensus among physicists on the proper names for derivatives above jounce.Despite this, physicist
have proposed other names such as “Lock”, “Drop”, “Shot” and “Put” for higher-ordered derivatives.

The dimensions of jounce are distance per (time to the power of 4). In SI units, this is “metres per quartic second”, “metres per second per second per second per second”, m/s4, m*s^−4, or 100 Gal per second squared in CGS units. This pattern continues for higher order derivatives, with the 5th being m/s^5.