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A Level Physics > Definitions > Flashcards

Definitions Flashcards

1
Q

Define Absolute Error?

A

Absolute Error is the difference between a measured value and the true value.

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2
Q

Define Percentage Error?

A

(Absolute Error / True value) x 100

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3
Q

Define Random Error?

A

Random Error is error that does not follow any consistant pattern.

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4
Q

Define Systematic Error?

A

Systematic Error is error that has a consistant pattern.

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5
Q

Define Absolute Uncertainty?

A

Absolute Uncertainty is the interval in which the true value is expected to lie.

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6
Q

Define Percentage Uncertainty?

A

(Absolute Uncertainty / True value) x 100

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7
Q

Define Parralax Error?

A

Parralax Error is a form of systematic error, which is caused by the angle of the observer.

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8
Q

Define Anomalous Results?

A

Anomalous Results are results which don’t fit the pattern of the rest of the data.

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9
Q

Define Newton’s First Law of Motion?

A

An object will remain at rest or continue to move in a straight line at a constant speed unless acted upon by a resultant external force.

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10
Q

Define Newton’s Second law of Motion?

A

Force is the product of mass and acceleration.

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11
Q

Define Newton’s Third Law of Motion?

A

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction acting upon a different object.

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12
Q

Define Power?

A

The rate of work done (or the rate of energy transfer)

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13
Q

Define Efficiency?

A

Efficiency is the ratio of useful output power to total input power.

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14
Q

Define Moment of a Force?

A

Moment of a Force is the product of Force and the perpendicular distance between the force and the pivot.

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15
Q

Define the Principle of Moments?

A

The total clockwise moment is equal to the total anticlockwise moment about any point.

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16
Q

Define a Couple?

A

A Couple is a pair of equal and opposite forces that act on different points on the same object.

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17
Q

Define Torque?

A

Torque is the total moment of a couple, about any point

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18
Q

Define Current?

A

Current is the Rate of Change of Charge.

or the amount of charge flowing in one second

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19
Q

Define Potential Difference?

A

The work done per coulomb of positve charge.

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20
Q

Define Ohmic Conductor?

A

Ohmic conductors are those electrical conductors that follow Ohms law. In other words there is a linear relationship between voltage and current for all values.

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21
Q

Define Superconductor?

A

A material which below its critical temperature has ZERO resistance.

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22
Q

Define Semiconductor?

A

A material whose resistance decreases as temperature increases

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23
Q

Define Resistivity

A

Resistivity is a property that describes the extent to which a material opposes the flow of electric current through it

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24
Q

Define EMF?

A

Electromotive force

The potential difference of a supply when no current is being drawn.

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25
Q

Define Internal Resistance?

A

The electrical resisctance of a power supply.

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26
Q

Define Kirchoff’s First Law?

A

The algerbraic sum of the currents at at pount is equal to Zero.
(Or the total current flowing into a point is equal to the current flowing out of the point).

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27
Q

Define Kirchoff’s Second Law?

A

The algerbraic sum of the EMF is equal to teh sum of the potentail difference around aclosed loop.
(or total emf must be equal to pd across the components of a closed loop).

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28
Q

Define Period of a Wave?

A

The time taken for one complete oscillation.

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29
Q

Define Frequency of a Wave?

A

The number of oscillations in one second.

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30
Q

Define Path Difference?

A

The difference in distance travelled by two waves from their respective sources to a given point.

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31
Q

Define Phase Difference?

A

Phase Difference is used to describe the difference in degrees or radians when two or more alternating quantities reach their maximum or zero values.

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32
Q

Define Polarisation?

A

The action of restricting the vibrations of a transverse wave, especially light, wholly or partially to one direction.

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33
Q

Define Coherent Sources?

A

At leat on source of waves which have the same, frequencey and wave speed. And have a constant phase difference.

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34
Q

Define Stationary Waves?

A

Waves which are traveling at the same speed, in opposite directions and have the same frequency.

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35
Q

Define Antinode?

A

A point of constructive interference.

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36
Q

Define Node?

A

A point of destructive interference?

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37
Q

Define Work Function?

A

The minimum amount of energy a conduction electron must gain to leave the surface of the material.

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38
Q

Define Threshold Frequency?

A

The minimum frequency required to transfer enough energy to a conduction electron, for it to leave the surface of the material.

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39
Q

Define Stopping Potential?

A

Stopping potential is the minimum negative voltage applied to the anode to stop the photocurrent.

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40
Q

Define Isotopes?

A

Atoms which have the same number of protons by=ut z different number of neutrons.

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41
Q

Define Specific Charge?

A

The ratio of charge to mass of a ion or sub atomic particle.`

42
Q

Define Antiparticle?

A

Particles with the same rest mass as their corresponding particle, but all other properties are opposite.

43
Q

Define Elastic Deformation?

A

The ability for a material to return to its original size (natural length) when force is removed.

44
Q

Define Plastic Deformation?

A

The ability for a material to NOT return to its original size (natural length) when force is removed.

45
Q

Define Limit of Proportionality?

A

The point beyond which a material won’t return to its natural length.

46
Q

Define Tensile Stress?

A

Force exerted per unit cross sectional area.

47
Q

Define Tensile Stress?

A

Extension per unit length.

48
Q

Define Stiff?

A

It requires a lot of force to stretch it.

49
Q

Defene Strong?

A

It requires a lot of force to break it.

50
Q

Define Brittle?

A

It breaks without much plastic deformation.

51
Q

Define Ductile?

A

It can be pulled into thein wires (a type of platic deformation)

52
Q

Define Malleable?

A

It can be beaten into shape (a type of plastic deformation)

53
Q

define Hard?

A

The surface cannot be easily scratched.

54
Q

Define Tough?

A

It will absorb a lot of energy before breaking.

55
Q

Define Heat?

A

The transfer of thermal energy.

56
Q

Define Temperature?

A

A measure of the mean kinetic energy of particles in an object

57
Q

Define Specific Heat Capacity?

A

The amount of energy required to change 1 kg of material by 1 kelvin.

58
Q

Define Specific Latent Heat?

A

The amount of energy required to change the state of 1 kg of material, without a change in temperature.

59
Q

Define Pressure?

A

Force per unit area

60
Q

Define Angular Velocity?

A

The rate of rotation?

61
Q

Define Free Oscillator?

A

A system with no damping.

62
Q

Define Light Damping?

A

A system which oscillates about the equilibrium position with (exponentialy) decreasing amplitude.

63
Q

Define Heavy Damping?

A

A system which takes a long time to reach the equilibrium position.

64
Q

Define Critical Damping?

A

A system reaches equilibrium and comes to rest in the shortest possible time (T/2)

65
Q

Define Natural Frequency?

A

The frequency at which a system oscillates when not subjected to a continuous or repeated external force.

66
Q

Define Newton’s Universal Law of Gravitaion?

A

The force of attraction between two point masses is proportional to the product of their masses. And inversly propotional to the square of their distance apart.

67
Q

Define Gravitaional Field Strength?

A

The force acting on a unit Mass

Or the force experienced by 1 kg

68
Q

Define Gravitaional Potential Energy?

A

The work done in moving a mass from infinitely far to a distance (r) with in a gravitaional field.

69
Q

Define Escape Velocity?

A

The minimum velocity required to have a body leave and travel infinitely far away.

70
Q

Define Gravitational Potential?

A

Th ework done in moving a unit mass from infinity to a distance (r) with in the gravitational field.

71
Q

Define Schwartzchild Radius?

A

The distance from the centre of a blck hole at which the escape velocity is the speed of light.

72
Q

Define Coulomb’s Law?

A

The force between two positive charges is proportional to the product of their charge, and inversely proportional to the square of their distance apart

73
Q

Define Electric Field?

A

The force acting on a unit positive charge.

74
Q

Define Electric Potential Energy?

A

The work done in moving a charge from infinity to a distance (r) within the electric field.

75
Q

Define Electric Potential?

A

The work done in moving a unit positve charge from infinity to a distance (r) within a field.

76
Q

Define Capacitance?

A

The amount of charge that can be stored per unit potential difference across it.

77
Q

Define Relative Permittivity?

A

AKA Dielectric Constant.

The ratio of a materials pervittivity to that of free space.

78
Q

Define Permittivity?

A

The measure of how easy it is to create an electric field through a medium.

79
Q

Define Permittivity of Free Space?

A

How easy it is to create an electric field acrros a vacuum

80
Q

Define Time Constant?

A

The time taken for a capacitor to discharge to 1/e (69%) of its initial charge

81
Q

Define Relative Permeability

A

The ratio of a materials permeability to that of free space.

82
Q

Define Permeability?

A

The measure of how easy it is to create a magnetic field through a medium.

83
Q

Define Permeability of Free Space?

A

How easy it is to create a magnetic field acrros a vacuum

84
Q

Define Faraday’s Law?

A

The Magnitude of the induced emf is equal to the rate of change of flux linkage.

85
Q

Define Lenz’s Law?

A

The induced currentis such as to oppose the change which caused the current

86
Q

Define Corrected Count Rate?

A

It is the cout rate of a sample after the background count rate has been factored in.

87
Q

Define Alpha Decay?

A

When an unstable nucleus ejects a helium nucleus.

88
Q

Define Beta Minus Decay?

A

When a neutron (in an unstable nucleus) decays into a proton, ejecting an electron.

89
Q

Define Beta Plus Decay?

A

When a proton (in an unstable nucleus) decays into a neutron, ejecting an positron.

90
Q

Define Electron Capture?

A

When an electron in a shell in captured by a proton in the nucleus, turning it into a neutron.

91
Q

Define Radioactive Decay Constant?

A

The probability that an unstable nuclide will decay in one second.

92
Q

Define Activity?

A

How many decays occur in one second, from a specific source.

93
Q

Define Half Life?

A

The time taken for the number of unstable nuclides (or activity of a source) to halve for a given isotope.

94
Q

Define Atomic Mass Unit?

A

The mass of 1/12 the mass of a Carbon-12 nucleus.

95
Q

Define Mass Defect?

A

The difference in mass of the nucleus and its constiuent nucleons.

96
Q

Define Binding Energy?

A

The work done in SEPARATING a nucleus into its constituent nucleons.

97
Q

Define Binding Energy per Nucleon?

A

The average amount of work done to pull one nucleon from its nucleus.

98
Q

Define Nuclear Fission?

A

The splitting of a large nucleus into two smaller daugther nuclei.

99
Q

Define Nuclear Fusion?

A

The joining of two small nuclei to produce a larger nucleus.

100
Q

Define Criticlal Mass?

A

The minimum mass of fissile material such that it will undergo a chain reaction. Assuming the material is spherical.
(each fission event causes at least one other fission event)

A Level Physics (16 decks)

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