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A2 physics > definitions > Flashcards

definitions Flashcards

1
Q

radian

A

angle subtended at the centre by an arc of length equal to the radius of the cirlce

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2
Q

angular displacement

A

the angle swept at the centre of the circle by an object moving in a cirlce

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3
Q

angular speed

A

the rate of change of angular displacement

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4
Q

centripetal force

A

resultant force on an object towards the centre of the circle when the object is rotating round that circle at a constant speedne

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5
Q

what is newtons 2nd law motions

A

the resultant force of a body is proportional to the rate of change of momentum

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6
Q

critical speed (motion in a cirlce)

A

the minimum speed at which the string remains taught

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7
Q

gravitational field

A

force per unit mass

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8
Q

Newton’s law of gravitation

A

Any two point masses attract each other with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of their separation

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9
Q

Gravitational field strength, g,

A

the gravitational force exerted per unit mass on an object placed at that point

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10
Q

gravitational potential

A

the work done per unit mass in bringing a point mass from infinity

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11
Q

Gravitational potential energy

A

work done per unit mass in bring a point mass from infinity to a point

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12
Q

why is Gravitational Potential always negative

A

at infinity it is zero, and work is done on a mass to move it away from another mass

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13
Q

oscillation

A

a back and forth movement from an equilibrium position

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14
Q

frequency

A

the number oscillations per second

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15
Q

angular frequency

A

rate of change of angular displacement

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16
Q

Simple Harmonic Motion (SHM)

A

a type of oscillation in which the acceleration fo a body is directly proportional to its displacement but acts in the opposite direction

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17
Q

dampening

A

an oscillation in which resistive forces cause the energy of the system to be transferred to the surroundings as internal energy

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18
Q

Resonance

A

when the frequency of the driving frequency is equal to the natural frequency of the oscillating system. system absorbs the maximum energy and has maximum amplitude

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19
Q

Critical dampening

A

the minimum dampening that causes the oscillating system to return to its equilibrium position in the minimum time without oscillating

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20
Q

electric field

A

force per unit positive charge

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21
Q

electric field strength

A

force experienced per unit charge

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22
Q

direction of an electric field

A

the direction of an isolated free positive charge in the field

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23
Q

Coulombs law

A

The electrostatic force between two charges is directly proportional to the product of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of the separation

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24
Q

Electric potential

A

Work done per unit positive charge in bring a small test charge from infinity to a defined point

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25
potential gradient
the rate of change of electric potential with respect to displacement in the direction of the field
26
Electric potential energy
the work done in bringing a charge from infinty to that point
27
magnetic field
region where a force acts on a magnetic material
28
magnetic flux density
force acting per unit current per unit length on a current carrying conductor
29
hall effect
the process through which a p.d is produced across a conductor when an external magnetic field is applied to the current through the conductor
30
velocity selector
a device consisting of perpendicular electric and magnetic fields where charged particles with a specific velocity can be filtered
31
magnetic flux
product of magnetic flux density and the cross sectional area perpendicular to the direction of flux density
32
Magnetic flux linkage
the product of the magnetic flux and the number of turns in a coil
33
electromagnetic induction
the process of inducing an E.M.F when magnetic field lines are cut
34
Faraday's law of electromagnetic induction
The magnitude of the induced EMF is directly proportional to the rate of magnetic flux linkage
35
Len'z law
the direction of the induced emf is such as to oppose the change producing it
36
Photon
massless quantum of electromagnetic energy
37
electronvolt
energy gained by an electron travelling through a potential difference
38
work function
the minimum energy required for photoelectrons to be emitted from the surface of the metal
39
intensity (quantum physics)
The number of photons striking the metal surface per second
40
photocurrent
The number of photoelectrons emitted per second
41
de broglie wavelength
Wavelength associated with particles
42
ionisation
when an electron gains enough energy to be removed from the atom entirely
43
ultrasound
a high frequency sound above the range of human hearing
44
specific acoustic impedance
the product of the speed of the ultrasound in a medium and the density of the medium
45
intensity reflection coefficient
the ratio of the intensity of the reflected wave relative to the incident wave
46
Attenuation of ultrasound matter
the reduction of energy due to the absorption of ultrasound as it travels through a materialo
47
contrast
the difference in the degree of blackening between structure
48
sharpness
how well defined the edged of structures are
49
Positron emission tomography (PET)
a medical procedure that images tissues and organs by measuring the metabolic activity of the cells of the body
50
Annihiliation
when a particle meets its equivalent antiparticle they are both destroyed and their mass is converted into energy
51
Thermal equilibrium
when there is no net transfer of heat
52
heat
A form of energy that is transferred from a region of higher temperature to a region of lower temperature
53
Specific heat capacity
The amount of heat required to change a unit mass of the body by 1 degree Celsius
54
Specific latent heat
the amount of energy required to change the state of a unit mass without changing the temperature
55
avogrados law
equal volumes of all gases at the same temperature and pressure contain equal number of molecules
56
internal energy
the sum total of a random distribution of all molecules potential and kinetic energies
57
ideal gas
gas that obeys pv proportional to T, where T is thermodynamic temperature
58
first law of thermodynamics
U=q+w the increase in internal energy of a body is equal to the thermal energy transferred to it by heating plus the mechanical work done on it
59
root mean square value (rms)
the value of steady d.c that produces the same heating effect in the same resistor
60
rectification
the process of converting an alternating voltage into direct voltage
61
smoothing
the process of reducing the variation in the rectified voltage
62
decay constant
the probability that an individual nucleus will decay per unit of time
63
activity (Bq)
the rate of decay of nuclei of a radioactive source
64
half-life
the time taken for a radioactive nuclide to decay to half its original value
65
radioactive decay
the spontaneous disintegration of a nucleus to form a more stable nucleus, resulting in the emission of an alpha, beta or gamma particle
66
mass defect
the difference between the mass of a nucleus and the sum of the individuals masses of it protons and neutrons is
67
binding energy
the minimum amount of energy required to break a nucleus into its protons and neutron to infinity
68
binding energy of a nucleon
the binding energy of a nucleus divided by the number of nucleons in the nucleus
69
nuclear fusion
the fusing together of two small nuclei to produce a larger nucleus
70
nuclear fission
the splitting of large atomic nucleus into smaller nuclei
71
redshift
the fractional increase in wavelength due to the source and observer receding from each other
72
Hubble's law
the recession speed of galaxies moving away from earth is proportional to their distance from the earth
73
wien's displacement law
the black body radiation curve for different temperatures peaks at a wavelength which is inversely proportional to the temperature
74
A black body
an object in which absorbs all the radiation that falls on it, and is also a good emitte
75
stefan boltzman law
the total energy emitted by a black body per unit are per second is proportional to the fourth power of the absolute temperature of the body
76
luminosity
the total power output of radiation emitted by a star
77
Radiant flux intensity
the radiant power transmitted normally through a surface per unit area
78
standard candle
as astronomical object which has a known luminosity due to a characteristic quality possessed by that class of object
79

A2 physics (5 decks)

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